The NOSB was created in celebration of The 1998 International Year of the Oceans. The Regional Ocean Science Bowls will be held in February 2000 in twenty states around the country. Since the NOSB was organized in 1998, there have been additional regional sites added each year. The regional competitions are not limited to just public or private high school students. For example, if an organization such as an aquarium wants to sponsor a team in the competition, the requirements are that each team member be of high school age and they must have a coach.
Home schools are also welcome to participate .
These questions make up the bulk of the questions asked of the teams during the tournaments. Team-challenge questions are short answer questions that are asked once per game. They are more complicated than toss-up or bonus questions and often have graphs or tables associated with them. The winning team of the double-elimination matches is the winner of that Bowl.