When Wareham resident Richard Wheeler took a 1,500 mile kayak trip from Newfoundland to Buzzards Bay in 1991, his goal was to raise awareness about the great auk, a bird driven to extinction by humans in the 1800s. He never thought that nearly 20 years later, he'd still be talking about - and recognized for - that journey.

This month, the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the bay, will open the Richard C. Wheeler Bay Learning Center in the Buzzards Bay Center, its new New Bedford headquarters, to which it moved last May.

In addition to informing and educating the public about the bay, the learning center will tell the story of Wheeler's 4-month journey from Newfoundland to Buzzards Bay, during which he followed the migratory path of the flightless great auk, telling its story and educating others about extinction. The journey was documented by PBS and is currently showed all around the world.

The great auk's story is "something that is an appropriate theme for [the Buzzards Bay Coalition] to tie into," Wheeler said.

Those birds were routinely killed by commercial fishermen for their meat and oil.

"The great auks were here," said Wheeler, a lifelong educator who still travels to schools to talk about the great auk and his trip. "This was their Aruba!"

But female great auks only produced one chick per year, Wheeler said. Eventually, the constant human depredation was too much for the species.

"You can beat a population down to such an extent that it doesn't come back," Wheeler said.

The great auk's story is a good teaching tool, Wheeler said. If we do not change our practices, what happened to the great auk could happen to horseshoe crabs, some species of fish, and other animals, he said.

Wheeler said that he is thrilled that the great auk will continue to live through the learning center. But he is humbled that the Coalition decided that the learning center would bear his name.

"It's embarrassing in a way," Wheeler said "They're good people. I guess they have to name [the learning center] after somebody!"

The kayak Wheeler used to complete the journey of the great auk will also be on display at the learning center.

Wheeler's wife, Sandra, donated $500,000 of the $1 million needed to get the learning center off the ground. The center will also feature a 3-dimensional model of Buzzards Bay and its watershed, exhibits that demonstrate differences between plants and animals living in healthy water and polluted water, and information regarding the environmentally-friendly building techniques used to restore the new Buzzards Bay Center.

The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, located at 114 Front Street, New Bedford, will celebrate the grand opening of the Buzzards Bay Center with an open house on Friday, August 27 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information or to donate to the Coalition, call 508-999-6363.