The main focus of this extraordinary five-year venture is exploration and discovery. As Earle points out, “The submerged part of the continent is less well known now than the western United States was to explorers Lewis and Clark when they set out across North America nearly 200 years ago.” Scientific research is another key component, as is the use of new technologies. Last but not least, a major aim of SSE is to raise public awareness about the marine environment: its fragility and magnificence, as well as its importance to human survival.

Wrapped up in all these strands is a unique educational project piloted by the Monterey Bay Sanctuary: the “Teacher-in-the-Sea,” which involves a local teacher and students directly in the research efforts of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions. (In the original vision, four teachers were to be trained in various parts of the country, but only one position has materialized.) Selected for this incredible opportunity, from among 10 applicants, was Mike Guardino, an advanced placement chemistry and honors physics teacher at Carmel High School. He fit the criteria for this experimental project perfectly: he’s very involved in working with other teachers, so could serve as a mentor; he’s a motivated science instructor; and—perhaps the clincher—he has a strong diving background.

As Teacher-in-the-Sea (and as a qualified SCUBA instructor), in 1999 and 2000 Guardino certified 18 students in SCUBA diving, taught them underwater research techniques, then supervised a student-driven subtidal marine research project. Their goal was to survey bottom topography and compare organisms within and outside of an existing no-take zone at Point Lobos Marine Reserve. To this end, the high school students had to learn some 200 organisms—about 120 invertebrates, 80 bony fish, and 20 algae. That’s a lot of Latin! In addition, Mike learned how to pilot the DeepWorker submersible, a high-tech vehicle being used by SSE researchers to explore nearshore waters to a depth of 2,000 feet. The project was designed to complement studies that Mike later undertook with DeepWorker. It also tied in with a rockfish study being conducted along the Big Sur coast by SSE scientist Mary Yaklovich.

I recently talked with Guardino about his experience as Teacher-in-the-Sea.

C&O: What are you doing as Teacher-in-the-Sea?

MG: The Teacher-in-the-Sea obligation involved four things: to learn how to pilot the DeepWorker, which has been about a two-year process; to write a curriculum that would be disseminated on the SSE website; to do public appearances, about 65 over the course of two years; and the most important one, I think, was to involve the students.
I recruited high school students, and rather than have it just be the more affluent kids from Carmel High, I opened it up to any high school student in the county. I spread the word by contacting other teachers in the area. Fifty-five applied the first year, and we got 18 certified, 11 boys and seven girls. Eleven came from Carmel High, three from Monterey, two from Pacific Grove, and two from Aptos, in Santa Cruz County. I originally accepted two from North Salinas, but transportation was a problem; car trouble eventually forced those two to pull out. [The second year, because of funding stipulations of a benefactor, all the students came from Carmel High.]

C&O: How did you choose them?

MG: I had them write an essay expressing why they were interested. I looked at their ability to swim; I wanted them to be comfortable in the ocean. And I wanted to see what they had done previously in the
sciences. For the students I didn’t know personally, I got recommendations from teachers.

C&O: Once you had selected the students, how did you proceed?

MG: I decided that the best way to teach science, since we had some field opportunities, was to follow the scientific method. After certifying the kids to dive, we started looking at issues in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, not the least of which was, how do you manage a fishery, especially one that has had historical declines, like the sardine, and more recent declines, like rockfish. We did some literature searches, and found that one of the more creative recent proposals is the establishment of marine protected areas, or MPAs. [For a description of the MPA concept, see Coast & Ocean, Winter 1999– 2000.] We wanted to find some empirical data to back up what most people would say they already believe: if you had a small protected reproductive stock, that breeding stock could replenish places outside the reserve that experience a lot of fishing pressure.

We looked for two reefs that were virtually identical—in bottom composition, percent coverage by kelp, types of currents, water clarity. One [study area] was inside the marine protected area of Point Lobos, one was outside. So one had a higher degree of protection from fisheries, which in that area would be long-liners, commercial party boats, hook-and-line people from shore, spear fishers on SCUBA.

I steered development of the project, but the students were closely involved in giving it shape, brainstorming details, doing research, and of course they did all the empirical work. . . .

The full text of this article is in the Autumn issue of Coast & Ocean magazine. To subscribe to Coast & Ocean, click here. Subscribe