Staff from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) engaged students in activities that highlighted the teamwork, tools, and skills needed to tackle issues related to marine pollution. Campers learned from scientists with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, a division within OR&R, about the sources and impacts of marine debris; collected, graphed, and interpreted data; and brainstormed prevention strategies for common debris types—including actions they could take in their everyday lives.

Camp sessions with scientists from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division began with an unexpected (fictional) phone call: “This is Lieutenant Ginger with Sector Puget Sound of the U.S. Coast Guard. There has been a ship collision off of Shilshole Bay in Seattle, resulting in an oil spill.” Campers then spent time learning how to respond to typical questions that NOAA’s oceanographers, biologists, chemists, and physical scientists are expected to answer in the event of a spill—Where will the oil go? How will it behave in and on the water, and on different types of shorelines? What wildlife and human-use areas could be at risk during this spill? How might the oil adversely affect these resources? At the end of session, campers reported back to “Lieutenant Ginger” on their findings.

Each week of Science Camp culminated in a project to solve the mystery of the unprecedented number of whale entanglements off the coast of California between 2014 and 2016.

NOAA Science Camp, a program of Washington Sea Grant, has been offering hands-on science-learning opportunities for approximately 130 students annually since 2003.