Our marine naturalist training course (MNTP) is an intensive 6-day overview of the natural history of the San Juan Islands and the marine waters of Washington and Southern British Columbia (known as the Salish Sea), happening from July 28 to August 3, 2022.

June 14, 2022

Connecting to Nature

Conservation and Behavior Change

Come join The Whale Museum’s Gear Up Workshop for Marine Naturalists this spring (April 8) virtually through Zoom. This workshop’s theme will be Bottoms Up: The Power of Whale Poo! This workshop will run from 10-5 Pacific Time.

March 29, 2022

Connecting to Nature

Conservation and Behavior Change

A free virtual training offered by TWM to k-12 teachers. The objective is to provide a learning experience that enhances your knowledge and classroom lessons. The program highlights the ecology, current status and conservation of the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales and other local marine species as well as aspects of the Salish Sea. The course includes presentations on cetaceans, other marine mammals, birds, intertidal invertebrates, geology, and more such as marine conservation.

Registration is now open for a summer virtual session of The Whale Museum’s Marine Naturalist Program. This dynamic and high quality program will be 6-sessions and run on the following dates: July 19-24. The objective of this program is to provide a learning experience that assists adult graduates in becoming qualified regionally as professional or volunteer naturalists.

On April 24th, The Whale Museum (TWM) is holding an exciting virtual Gear Up Workshop for Marine Naturalists this spring on Saturday, April 24. This workshop will be held from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Time and registrants will join sessions through the videoconferencing platform, Zoom. The “Gear Up” Workshop will focus on underwater noise and vessel traffic, issues which affect not only the endangered Southern Resident orcas but many other marine mammals as well.

The Whale Museum is holding a virtual "Species in the Spotlight" workshop in partnership with NOAA. Taking place February 10-12, 2021, the intent is to learn about the species highlighted by NOAA that are most likely going to go extinct in the near future and what on-going recovery efforts, research, and education efforts are underway to prevent their extinction. Registration is required.

January 22, 2021

Conservation and Behavior Change

Program objectives: Educate boaters on best practices for viewing marine wildlife before they leave the shore; reinforce the learning experience in the actual context where disturbances take place; develop and evaluate community-based voluntary guidelines; and provide a scientific platform to monitor vessel activities around marine mammals.

The San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network (SJCMMSN), a program of The Whale Museum established in 1980, is authorized by NMFS to respond to all marine mammal strandings in San Juan County, WA. We typically respond to more than 200 calls of both live and deceased animals per year. SJCMMSN is currently recruiting 1-2 San Juan Island-based intern(s) to help respond to marine mammal strandings during our busy season.

Established in 1979 as the first U.S. museum dedicated to whales living in the wild, The Whale Museum promotes stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research. The Soundwatch Boater Education Program was initiated in 1993 by The Whale Museum to reduce disturbances to marine wildlife caused by irresponsible boater behaviors. This innovative program educates boaters on guidelines and regulations for marine wildlife through shore-based education, reinforces the learning experience through on–the-water educational patrols, monitors vessel activities to characterize vessel trends, and evaluate existing guidelines and laws. The main focus of our work is the endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) but there are other marine mammal species of importance in our region, including Transient killer whales, Minke whales, Humpback whales, Fin whales, Harbor porpoise, Dall’s porpoise, Harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and many other cetacean and pinniped species.