Juanita resident Wesley Petersen is one of five members of a Western Washington University human-powered submarine team that will travel to San Diego, Calif., July 23-27 to compete in the Human-Powered Submarine Contest, sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

WWU’s submarine, the Irukandji (named after a deadly jellyfish found off the coast of Australia) is small enough to fit in the bed of a truck. The submarine is propeller-driven and holds one person, as opposed to the two-person submarine, the Drekar, built for last year’s competition.

Last year WWU placed third in its class and sixth overall at the International Submarine Races in Bethesda, Md.

Petersen calls piloting the craft a “kick in the pants.”

A senior at Western, Petersen graduated from Juanita High School in 2004 and is scheduled to graduate from WWU next year.