“The continents of North and South America should be considered a solo island entity; surrounded by a shared, singular ocean; with challenges, communities, issues and solutions all linked together as a common whole.”
When speaking with relatives and friends from Latin America, I’ve heard them refer to people in the United States (and Canada) as Norteamericanos. This demonym always stuck me as odd, since folks from Mexico, Belize and the rest of Central America are also, technically, Norteamericanos too. Of course, this term is as much about culture as it is geography. And if you are on a boat, the distinction between all the Americas can seem a bit ambiguous, especially to this crew.
They are aboard the Ocean Watch, a 64-foot steel cutter that is circumnavigating North and South America to raise awareness about ocean conservation. Along the way, they are conducting research and sharing their adventures via various social media platforms. It seems like a well-funded and nicely integrated model for live blogging an expedition. Unfortunately, I could not find any Creative Commons licensed images from the site, so I can’t reproduce any of their spectacular photos here. But you can check them out on their Flickr site.
There are lots of opportunities for teachers and students to interact with the crew online and in-person when they are in port. They have partnered with educators from the Pacific Science Center in Seattle to create high quality curriculum materials both for the classroom and for informal educators. It includes background information and activities on ocean acidification, plastic pollution and other marine topics. It looks like a good resource for anyone looking for timely lesson plans on these emerging conservation issues.
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