Maya Strike ’24 sails with SEA from San Diego to Tahiti
Strike studies biology at Carleton.
This fall, Maya Strike ’24 is among a group of 19 students sailing from San Diego to Tahiti in Sea Education Association’s (SEA) first voyage to international waters since the COVID-19 pandemic confined travel to U.S. territorial waters in 2020.
Strike is enrolled in Oceans & Climate, a program where students develop their understanding of the ocean’s role in climate dynamics and contribute to baseline climate research in the Pacific.
The students arrived at SEA’s Woods Hole campus on Aug. 22 to begin five weeks of preparatory coursework before beginning the sea component on Sept. 28 in San Diego, where they boarded the SSV Robert C. Seamans, SEA’s state-of-the-art 134-foot brigantine.
The ship will serve as the students’ home, classroom and laboratory for more than six weeks as they sail across the Pacific Ocean to Tahiti, where the program ends on Nov. 13.
All students are full working members of the ship’s crew, sharing responsibilities for standing watch, processing oceanographic samples, navigating by the stars and participating in round-the-clock operations. Students learn to challenge themselves and cultivate new skills in leadership, teamwork and field research.