VOYAGE OF THE ODYSSEY : OCEAN ENCOUNTERS

The 'Ocean encounters' program is an interactive multimedia program designed to bring the study of whales and the ocean environment, scientific research and marine conservation issues to students and the public. It takes the best educational content from the PBS - Voyage of the Odyssey website, and presents it in a high resolution format for an educator to playback via a DVD disc on a television, computer or LCD projector.

Ocean Alliance is concerned with the conservation of whales and all sea life, as well as human impacts on the marine environment. Through the Ocean Alliance program the Voyage of the Odyssey, we are able to focus on measuring the concentrations of synthetic contaminants that adversely affect the world's oceans and its marine species. Ocean Alliance is also working to reverse humanity's general apathy about the fundamental importance of the oceans and the degree to which the future of all life on earth is dependent upon it.

The Ocean Alliance believes that the oceans and its marine inhabitants are a common, unique and irreplaceable asset of humanity. We believe that conservation should be a 'state of mind'. We try to facilitate this process by linking the frontiers of marine science to educational institutions and homes around the world. We aspire to overcome obstacles to change, by sharing resources at an international level, realizing that a more informed and active society is a precondition to positive change and a necessity for a more responsive and coherent system of ocean governance.

"Education is the core of the Voyage of the Odyssey. What interests me most is the challenge of making what unfolds from the boat each day so interesting and compelling to young people as to develop in them enough excitement to keep them coming back to find out what has happened since they last logged on to visit Odyssey." - Roger Payne

PROBLEM STATEMENT -

At Ocean Alliance we believe there is a need for a change in the way the environment is viewed by schools and by most teachers. We believe that by using the Odyssey as a platform with its current state-of-the-art communications technology as a tool with which to combine education with multi-media presentations, we can inspire students and adults to connect directly with the ocean environment - a critically important step to take when one considers how few people have first hand familiarity with the sea. It is our intention to encourage people to want to change their individual and collective impact on the ocean environment by turning ignorance into action. This is the principle behind the Ocean Encounters program.

OBJECTIVE - The educator will deliver a multimedia presentation to students followed by an optional 'live' link to the R.V. Odyssey, giving students the opportunity to interact directly with scientists and educators in the field. Content generated from the Voyage of the Odyssey is now readily accessible to the educator in an array of formats on this DVD.

This digital experience uses broadcast video, images and stereo sound allowing participants to experience as close as possible, what it is like to be on a global scientific expedition, making discoveries (virtually) with the Odyssey crew along the way.

This is not a linear program, rather a multidimensional way to access information and educational content from the Voyage of the Odyssey that is entertaining for the general user, yet informative enough for the for an educator to utilize. Content can be directed and modified to support a variety of subject areas and age groups, while addressing specific curriculum outcomes.

In this presentation format, the educator can use the interactive program to illustrate and explain concepts which students are then able to visualize. For example if a teacher is exploring the issue of 'human impacts' on the marine environment, they are able to draw from content that specifically highlights the consequences of our actions. As a result they may choose to focus on the following content for example:

• Video
  Marine Encounters
  - 'The purpose of the Voyage'
  - 'Whale encounters'
• Slide show
  - One Ocean
• 'Voice from the Sea' Audio log
  One Ocean
  - Plastics the deadliest predator in the sea.
  - Global warming
  - Ship strikes and entanglements on Right whales
  - The toxicant 'build up'.
  - Whale strandings
  - Aquarium reef fish trade
• 'Ocean Encounters' Video log
  One Ocean
  - Diving through debris
  - Shark finning.
  -The history of commercial whaling 'Science from the Field' - How we find and track sperm whales

The content of the Voyage of the Odyssey is unique in that in contains in-depth material related not only to whales but an array of conservation issues connected to the marine environment. The 'Ocean Encounters' program promotes simple and effective solutions to particular issues, while empowering and inspiring individuals to want to make a difference.