The Whale Museum’s mission is to promote stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research. The Whale Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was originally founded in 1976.
Primary Programs/Projects:
The Whale Museum (TWM)’s education department offers a wide variety of marine mammal educational programs to the public, ranging from power point programs, guided tours, lab programs, & short whale games and activities. A full listing can be found here: https://whalemuseum.org/pages/education-programs. TWM also offers many workshops & lectures throughout the year as well as marine naturalist training programs. In fact, the Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists (a professional network of marine naturalists) is run through TWM. For SSAMN members, we offer a monthly podcast series that focuses on marine life here in the Salish Sea and research being conducted. Archived podcast episodes can be found here: https://whalemuseum.org/pages/ssamn-stream-podcasts .
On the research side, TWM runs the marine mammal stranding network for our county; the Whale Hotline where orca sightings (and other marine mammal sightings) have been reported & collected since 1977; & the Soundwatch Boater Education Program. The Whale Museum, in partnership with SMRU Consulting, additionally operates and maintains a hydrophone and webcam at Lime Kiln Point State Park which runs out of the lighthouse. More information about each of these programs can be found at www.whalemuseum.org.
Reason for joining the Skagit Watershed Council:
Here at TWM, while the emphasis of research & education is on killer whales, we believe in taking a broader, ecosystem view. When I (Tracie Merrill), was initially invited to participate in Skagit Watershed Council meetings, I was very interested (and still am)since I knew being better informed about local salmon recovery projects and related issues, science, and traditional ecological knowledge would ultimately make me a better educator about the whales and the issue of prey for them, especially in regard to Southern Resident killer whales, since these whales rely on salmon. We are a firm believer in that “whale people” should talk more with “salmon people” since salmon and the whales are interlinked. This group can help make that bridge. Staff at TWM talk about salmon more frequently than you might think. For instance, we periodically offer workshops and lectures focused on salmon. We have at least three presentations on salmon during our marine naturalist training programs. Besides whales, we offer educational programs about pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) which are important predators of salmon. In fact, the top stranding calls our staff respond to are harbor seals. We have a podcast series for our SSAMN members that spans topics ranging from phytoplankton to fish (including salmon) to whales, and everything in-between! Our staff are frequently asked by the public what is being done to provide more food for the whales and increase salmon populations in general. Our director and I have really enjoyed the presentations done by members (and/or other experts) at SWC meetings and found them to be very informative. It would be a real honor for our organization to become a member of this group and for me to serve as a representative of our organization.
