LINWOOD – It may not be 20,000 leagues under the sea, but 11-year-old Luke Karavan’s artwork is now about 5,000 meters beneath the ocean waves.

The Linwood boy entered an art contest sponsored by the University of Southern California Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations. His entry was one of those chosen to be made into a stencil and spray-painted onto the scientific instrumentation of a seafloor observatory.

“My entry depicts an incredibly long-necked giraffe wearing an incredibly long snorkel peering down into the deep ocean and examining anglerfish, tube worms and other deep-sea creatures,” the winner said. “I decided on that idea because it seems to connect to learning about the deep ocean – and it was a ton of fun to draw.”

Karavan said he enjoyed seeing the other winners’ projects posted online as well as his own.

“Ironically, I was one of the few people who did not enter a drawing of a cephalopod – and I am really interested in those creatures,” he said.

Karavan is a founding member of Cape May County’s Cyber Explorers 4-H Club, a 4-H group chartered to explore science, engineering and technology with an emphasis on marine and environmental sciences. The contest came to the club’s attention as part of the Adopt a Microbe Project, a multidisciplinary online project introducing students to microbiology and marine science.

His mother, Julie Karavan, chartered the Cape May County 4-H Club in April 2010.

“In 4-H kids learn by doing, often in mixed age groups and working with adult mentors from the community,” she said. “We homeschool, and the club has been a great cooperative outlet for both of us. I encourage parents to check out 4-H, get their kids involved, and step up themselves as leaders.”

Underwater photographs of what is being touted as the “world’s deepest art installation” are expected to go online in April or May, after scientists revisit the seafloor observatory on an upcoming exhibition. The artwork can be seen at www.darkenergybiosphere.org/adoptamicrobe/2011/10/worlds-deepest-art-installation/.