Unalaska, AK – This weekend, ten Unalaska City High School students traveled to Seward to participate in the 14th annual Alaska Region National Ocean Sciences Bowl - commonly known as Tsunami Bowl. The competition tests students' knowledge of ocean science, history, geography, and it includes a quiz bowl, a research paper, and a presentation.

One of the two teams that Unalaska sent - the Frisky Phrominas - gave a presentation on the effects that increased vessel traffic would have on Unalaska. The second team, the Teal Turtles, looked at the effect of marine debris on the Unalaska Bay ecosystem. Shoshannah Jacob is one of the coaches, along with Reid Brewer and Shawna Rudio. She describes what the presentation process is like.

"They all get up in front of a whole bunch of people and give a 20 minute talk," says Jacob. "They talk about prospective ways that they might be able to improve the problem and further evaluate it - just really how it impacts every aspect of our community."

This year, 20 teams from 15 different schools across the state of Alaska participated. While only the top three teams overall are announced, Unalaska's teams came in 9th and 16th in the quiz bowl portion. Ashleigh Radvansky, the captain of the Teal Turtles, says the quiz bowl portion was the most intense part of the bowl.

"We actually tied at the end of one of the quiz bowl matches, and that was really exciting during the tiebreaker," says Radvansky.

The Tsunami Bowl teams start practicing in October, and they can spend up to six hours a week working on their research paper or quiz bowl drills. Frisky Phromina captain Noah Betzen says that it's important for each team to come up with a strategy that works for them when preparing for the quiz bowl.

"We decided to try to specialize in different area, and that didn't really work out," says Betzen. "So we just decided to have everyone have a baseline knowledge of everything, and that worked out pretty well."

This year, the two teams were composed of seniors, juniors, and sophomores. Only two participants are seniors, so Jacob is expecting Unalaska to do especially well next year. She says that experience with the Tsunami Bowl gives students an edge and makes them more comfortable.

"That's always a huge advantage to come and know what the competition is all about," says Jacob.
Juneau Douglas, Mat-Su Career & Technical High School, and Cordova Junior Senior High School were the top teams overall. Juneau Douglas will advance on to the National Science Bowl in Galveston, Texas.