October 6th, 6:00 PM PT: Genetic Population Structure of Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina) in Washington State with Alexandrea Otto
This free event is live at The Whale Museum and may be streamed on YouTube!
Come learn about the genetics of harbor seals in Washington state with The Whale Museum’s Alexandrea Otto! Alexandrea is currently finishing her Master’s at Western Washington University studying harbor seal population genetics in the Pacific Northwest. Some of her past projects include studying heart rate of northern elephant seals and behavioral surveys of sea otters in California; diet analysis of marine Eurasian otters and open-water cetacean surveys in Spain; eDNA detection of aquatic invasive species in Nebraska; and collaborating with Washington state partners in developing molecular tools through a greater harbor seal diet study, including participating in harbor seal captures.
October 24th, 4:00-6:00 PM PT: Digging Into Bones Class!
This paid event is live at The Whale Museum and streamed via Zoom.
What can a bird’s bones reveal about how it flies, dives, and survives? If you are looking for something fun to do in the spirit of Halloween, why not "play with bones" this October and come join us at The Whale Museum for a two-hour nature journaling class exploring the remarkable structure of Salish Sea birds! Learn more or register here!
Summer Lecture Archives:
Missed the lecture? Archived talks are available on our YouTube channel:
Jeff Foster: What I've Learned From Marine Mammals
Dr. Dana Wright: Right Whales in the North Pacific: Two Decades of Discovery
Melanie Knight (ECHO Program): Reducing Shipping Impacts on At-Risk Whales
Dr. Drew Harvell: How are Sea Stars Faring in our Salish Sea Menagerie? Watch a recording here!
Nora Nickum and Cindy Hansen: Our Local Gray Whales: Children’s Book & Science Chat. Watch a recording of the lecture here!
Haley Welsh & Emma Giesbrecht, Government of Canada: Government of Canada’s Efforts to Protect Southern Resident killer whales from vessel-related disturbance. Watch a recording of the lecture here!
Mike Rosekrans and Sage Enright, Youth Conservation Corp: Eelgrass Restoration Through Youth Conservation. Watch a recording of the lecture here!
From 2025 Summer Lecture Series:
Dr. Shawn Larson, The Seattle Aquarium: Sea Otter Conservation and Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration. Watch a recording of Dr. Larson's talk here.
Dr. Rob Williams, Oceans Initiative: Bright Extinction and a Vision of Hope: Signs of an accelerating decline in Southern Resident killer whales, and what we can do now to start turning it around. Catch a recording of it on this YouTube Link.
Dr. Mike Kuperberg, The Whale Museum: A Tale of Two Cities (Tallahassee to Washington DC to Friday Harbor). You can catch a recording of this talk here.
Note: all times are listed in Pacific Time.