Press Releases

December 6, 2000
Unique Semester-at-Sea Program Goes West, Tours California and Mexico

Students from Across the USA Join Floating College Classroom

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

Southampton, NY - In addition to its traditional Atlantic run, Southampton College's unique SEAmester program in Spring 2001 will also offer a West Coast voyage that not only includes Southern California but also Catalina Island, the Channel Islands, Baja Peninsula of Mexico and the Sea of Cortez.

Beginning and ending in Long Beach, Calif., the nine-week semester at sea will take place on board the popular tallship Californian, which is a re-creation of the C.W. Lawrence, a Revenue Service cutter built in Washington D.C. in 1848. The Californian has been named the "Official Tallship Ambassador for the State of California" by the California Legislature and Governor.

Begun in 1976, SEAmester is not just mentally demanding but physically too. Students are responsible for full-time college class work, and also have to hoist sails, swab decks and share very tight quarters. For Southampton College, which boasts a nationally recognized marine and environmental science program that has produced 32 Fulbright Scholars in the past 25 years, SEAmester West is a natural extension of what's taught in the more traditional classroom.

Mexico's Sea of Cortez is known for its unique beauty. Stretching from the delta of the Rio Grande River in the north to the rocky outcropping at Cabo San Lucas, the Sea is 800 miles in length. Also called Gulf of California, it teems with marine life. The ship will be making the voyage during the annual migration of the magnificent gray whale, which gives birth in the protected waters of Baja's Pacific lagoons.

Seamester West, led by oceanographer Tracy Baynes of Tuscon, Arizona, has already filled its 20 spots for 2001, but expects to set sail again in Spring 2002. Not only have Southampton College students signed on, but others from across the USA including Allyson Amster of Cherry Hill, NJ. For further information, contact SEAmester Director Pat Dzintarnieks at 631-287-8317.