Saint Columbia School -- Ottawa, Ill. Name's Origin: Named for the USS Bear, a sealing ship built in 1874 that helped rescue Arctic explorer Adolphus W. Greeley and made 34 subsequent voyages to Alaskan and Arctic waters.
MARY SEARS
Zion-Benton Township High School -- Zion, Ill. Name's Origin: Born in 1905, Mary Sears was the first Oceanographer of the Navy in modern times. Her research in the Navy WAVES was critical to the survivability of U.S. submarines in World War II.
CORIOLIS
St. Martin's Lutheran School -- Annapolis, Md. Name's Origin: The shift in wind direction due to the rotation of the earth on its axis is called the Coriolis effect. The “winds of change” are spurring more protection and understanding of the oceans.
LOUSE ARNER BOYD
Pass Christian Elementary, Pass Christian, Miss. Name's Origin: (1887-1972) Ocean scientist, polar explorer, author and photographer. In 1955 she was the first woman to fly over the North Pole.
TETHYS
Parkview Elementary -- Dillon, Mont. Name's Origin: Ancient name for the sea thought to cover the earth when the continents were known as Pangaea. Today known as the Mediterranean Sea.
GALATEA
Academy of St. Elizabeth -- Convent Station, N.J. Name's Origin: Adventurous Greek goddess who helped her lover Acis become a river god. The ship Galatea would be a helper to ocean researchers.
MILLENNIUM
Star Spencer School -- Spencer, Okla. Name's Origin: The ship is to be launched around 2000, heralding a new era in ocean exploration.
BRUCE C. HEEZEN
Oak Lawn Elementary -- Cranston, R.I. Name's Origin: 20th-century oceanographer who discovered turbidity currents and aided the understanding of plate tectonics. Heezen's maps and photos of the ocean floor revealed a frontier nine times the surface of the moon.
TRADEWIND
Wando High School, Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Name's Origin: Explorers and traders followed these wind patterns while crossing the sea. Thus tradewinds helped shape the history of the world.
SEVEN SEAS
Silverbrook Elementary -- Fairfax Station, Va. Name's Origin: This grade school class created a quilt representing the legendary Seven Seas: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic, Mediterranean and Caribbean.
