Unalaska, AK – The 64-foot Ocean Watch sailboat is circumnavigating the Americas to teach communities on both continents about the vulnerable, changing oceans. The ship is in Unalaska this week to learn about the community and teach about their project. Captain Mark Schrader says the 13-month long, 25,000 mile journey links learning to an adventure.

"The idea started because a group of us were talking about what can be done to make people aware of some ocean health issues that are critical to everyone's survival," he said.

The multi-faceted voyage involves scientists from around the country, educators, videographers, and more. Onboard the vessel are scientific instruments that gather constant streams of data about water temperatures, salinity and pH as well as weather conditions and the amount of sunlight. A camera takes 360 degree pictures from the mast 48,000 times per day. Ship oceanographer Michael Reynolds said they are amassing data from remote areas to supplement information used in more in-depth studies. The equipment also allows people to see different parts of the ocean from a new perspective.

"So anything we see, if we see a pod of whales, if we see garbage, it's recorded."

The scientists also note unique pieces of data to help teach about different aspects of the ocean ecosystems, like the very low pH of the Gulf of Alaska.

"And that's not necessarily from pollution or from man-made causes," Reynolds said. "The cold, nutrient-rich water in the Gulf of Alaska just takes a lot of carbon. So you get a lot of carbon being absorbed into the sea surface from the atmosphere. We call that a sink. And there are sinks in the southern oceans and there are sinks in the northern oceans. But the Gulf of Alaska is a very strong sink and as you can imagine, the pH drops. So that's a nice correlation."

The on-board scientists, who will change through out the trip, will also collect samples from jellyfish to send to research labs. Jellyfish blooms tend to indicate changes in ocean conditions and hurt other fish populations.

But the main goal of the project is education. Starting next month, the Ocean Watch crew will include an educator who will work with people on land to develop and distribute a free curriculum for grades K through 8. Captain Schrader said they will use the voyage as a vehicle for teaching about important ocean characteristics and changes.

"The ocean is vast, it's out there, its so big how can we possibly hurt it. That's been the attitude for way too long," said Schrader. "We're discovering now, in fact, that were upsetting fisheries b/c o contents and all kinds of things. It's a very fragile ecosystem and if you change a little bit, if the pH in the ocean changes just a little bit, it has huge ramifications that are just now being discovered."

The ship make more than 30 stops along the route. At each one the crew will work with local organizations to teach about their research and ocean ecosystems and get more students involved with both the English and Spanish language curricula. To learn more about the program you can visit their website at www.aroundtheamericas.org. The voyage is being completed with the help of many organizations, including the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

The crew will offer vessel tours from 2 to 6 pm Wednesday at the Spit Dock and present a slide show of their voyage so far at 7 pm at the Grand Aleutian.