The ocean covers three quarters of the planet and provides half the oxygen in our atmosphere. It's home to an estimated ninety percent of life on Earth.
Despite its vastness, the ocean is also vulnerable to human impacts - plastic pollution, overfishing, and the myriad changes wrought by rising carbon dioxide levels.
It can be easy to forget these sorts of things, even when we live right at the ocean's edge. Much of it is invisible from the water's edge - microscopic, or buried under tons of water. That's why everybody - investment bankers and plumbers, as well as scientists and teachers - should get out on the ocean at least once, according to Jeff Avery, executive director of Ocean Quest, and Virginia Land McGuire, dean at Sea Education Association.
There's research to suggest that, when it comes to science education, experiences outside the classroom may be just as - or even more - important as what's taught in school. So-called informal education opportunities may be better settings for fostering skills like critical thinking and the ability to formulate a question and devise a way to find an answer. Avery and McGuire say what happens aboard an educational cruise is something even more fundamental and irreplaceable - sparking curiosity.