The Quiksilver Crossing headed to Brazil in March as part of its seven-year circumnavigation around the globe.

Project director Bruce Raymond said the Quiksilver Crossing, which was originally launched from Cairns, Australia, in March 1999, has three main objectives: To find surf; to respect local cultures; and to contribute to the environment.

Since leaving Australia, the boat has traveled more than 60,000 nautical miles and more than 320 passengers have been on board in total. The Crossing has discovered more than 90 world-class surfing breaks, the exact locations of which are kept confidential.

During the voyage, the Quiksilver Crossing has been contributing to the scientific knowledge of the world's coral reefs through the Reef Check global coral reef monitoring program. The Crossing has been acclaimed by the United Nations Environment Program.

The Director of Reef Check, Dr Gregor Hodgson, said that the visit of the Quiksilver Crossing to Brazil is an amazing opportunity to bring a message of hope to South America.

"The message is that the health of the earth depends on the health of the oceans, especially coral reefs," Dr Hodgson said. "Brazil is blessed with unique coral reefs including species found nowhere else on earth. With the support and participation of surfers and ocean lovers, we can work together to ensure that these coral reefs are properly cared for so that they can continue to provide food and recreation for everyone."

The Reef Check Brazil co-ordinator, Dr Beatrice Padovani Ferreira, has organized teams of divers on board the Quiksilver Crossing to study coral reefs while it is in Brazilian waters.

Quiksilver Brazil sponsored surfers, James Santos and Jihad Kodhr, are also on board.

Since its launch in 1999, the boat has traveled north from Australia through the Coral Sea, east across the South Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then returning along a different South Pacific route and across to Indonesia, then north-west through the Indian Ocean to the Maldives. From there it journeyed down to South brazil, and then up through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic Ocean. It spent seven months in Europe and for the past two months has been off the coast of West brazil, and now Brazil.

"While searching for new surfing locations, the Quiksilver Crossing's 72-foot exploratory vessel has served as a floating research station, allowing Reef Check scientists to survey reefs that would otherwise be inaccessible," Bruce Raymond, the President of Quiksilver Brand Management, said.

Raymond said he believed the Quiksilver Crossing ignited a flame in people. "It has beautiful images and a sense of adventure; it takes you out of your world into one that people may never realise existed. That introduces people to the idea that they can go out and have so much fun in nature, and they don't need much more than a surfboard or a pair of swim fins, or whatever."

Dr Gregor Hodgson said that coral reefs, which are the rainforests of the sea, are facing an unprecedented crisis due to pollution, over-fishing and global warming.

"The Quiksilver Crossing is vitally important because not since Charles Darwin sailed around the world on the Beagle in the 1800s has there been such an unprecedented opportunity for marine scientists to study remote reefs and evaluate their health."

Six-time world champion, Kelly Slater, who dubbed the Crossing 'The Greatest Surf Adventure Ever' when it was launched, said: "The Crossing's about discovery, finding new waves, basically getting away from the world of surfing that we know and discovering something new.

"It's getting clean water and checking out different cultures; diving and fishing, just living in the ocean basically, living from the ocean and amongst it and not taking it for granted."

After its four-week trip to Brazil, the Quiksilver Crossing will head towards Central America and the USA mainland.