The Whale Museum is so excited to have our Research Director, Jessica Farrer, be a part of this outstanding team! Good luck to these three great scientists this season!

For the past five weeks our team has been hard at work remodeling The Whale Museum’s gift shop, and tomorrow at 10:00 AM we’re opening back up to the public! Admission is not required to shop in our store, so swing by and see the new space for yourself!

Registration is now open for the Spring and Summer Sessions of the Marine Naturalist Training Program! Both sessions will be dynamic, high-quality experiences that leave graduates qualified as a regional professional or volunteer naturalist. To learn more, visit: whalemuseum.org/collections/...

The Whale Museum will host its second annual Global Orca Workshop on November 13! The theme of the workshop is “Understanding orca eco-types around the world: Who are they and what are they facing in today’s changing ocean environments.” Learn more or register at: www.whalemuseum.org

We’re adding new apparel to our gift store - which design would you add to your cart? Comment your favorite below and the winner will be featured in our store 👕 Thanks to all of our incredible volunteers who submitted designs! These four were created by A) Adriana, B) Allie, C) Ro, and D) Sandy.

Northern Resident Killer Whales in the Strait of Georgia A135, A119, A79, A114, A94, A88, A42, A103 are present in this photo. This group is in the southernmost part of it's range.

The Whale Museum and The Salish Sea School are partnering to launch new, exciting take-home kits for educators, parents, and community organizers! To learn more or to request a kit, visit: whalemuseum.org/pages/salish...

The Whale Museum’s Summer Lecture Series wraps up tonight at 7:00 PM PT with another exciting lecture! Dr. Shawn Larson from the Seattle Aquarium will be presenting “Sea Otter Conservation and Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration.” Watch at TWM or live online: www.youtube.com/live/JJ9iSXX...

We are LIVE with Dr. Deborah Giles and Aisha Rashid from The SeaDoc Society! Join us at: www.youtube.com/live/5ISlwyy...

An endangered orca was spotted Friday carrying a dead newborn on her nose, umbilical cord still attached, between Orcas Island and Cypress Island in Washington state.

Event: Microbial source tracking for Puget Sound. Friday, 9/12, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm PT on Zoom. A workshop presented by PSI and co-hosted with the Shellfish SIL. Explore emerging tools to track and reduce fecal pollution in Puget Sound. washington.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

🚨 Milestone Alert! Last week, our CAB systems surpassed 5,000 days of listening beneath the waves — tracking whales, vessels, and more throughout the Pacific Northwest! #CoastalAcousticBuoy

The Whale Museum is hiring for the Soundwatch Coordinator position! This is a full-time employment position. To learn more and apply, visit: whalemuseum.org/pages/job-in... The application deadline is September 26, 2025 or until filled.

L Pod currently visible on the Lime Kiln livestream! www.youtube.com/live/h8xJjKz...

For the second time in just over a month, responders with the Pacific Northwest Large Whale Entanglement Response Network successfully freed an entangled Humpback whale in the Salish Sea. Read the full press release at: whalemuseum.org/pages/humpba...

In one hour we will be live with Dr. Jennifer Tennessen from the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels with her presentation, “Tagging Along: How Wearable Devices have Transformed our Understanding of Orcas’ Hunting Behavior and the Impacts of Human Disturbance.”: www.youtube.com/live/m27SMek...

Thank you @thewhalemuseum.bsky.social for the symbolic #killerwhale adoption program. We adopted K16 Opus a couple months ago and now have added her son K35 Sonata to the “family.” Hopefully the program can bring some hope to the recovery of the #SouthernResidentOrcas #orca #salishsea

In one hour, at 7:00 PM PT, we are going live with Dr. Michael Weiss from the Center for Whale Research for his lecture, “Population Trends and Behavior of Southern Resident killer whales”. Join us in-person at The Whale Museum or stream on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/live/tHWRAqs...

This spring, staff from @thewhalemuseum.bsky.social, Cascadia Research Collective, and SR3 gathered in Olympia to practice whale disentanglement skills. Learn about the training and what it takes to become a responder at www.sealifer3.org/news/preparing-for-the-next-response

The Whale Museum will be open until 5:00 PM through the end of the week (8/10) as a test of potential new summer hours! We hope this makes our museum more accessible to more people, and depending on the community response we may extend the expanded hours.

In one hour, at 7:00 PM PT, we are going live at The Whale Museum and on YouTube with a presentation from Erin Falcone and Greg Schorr: “Understanding the Impacts of Military Training on Southern (California) Residents”. www.youtube.com/live/LMcngfQ...

J63 IS A GIRL! 🩷🎉 In early July, @whaleresearch.bsky.social photographed the underside of J63, confirming she is female!

Thank you to Dr. Rob Williams and Dr. Erin Ashe from Oceans Initiative for speaking last night, and thank you to everyone who was able to attend either online or in-person! If you weren’t able to catch it live, a recording is available on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/live/-GA506p...

We are LIVE with Dr. Rob Williams from Oceans Initiative with his presentation "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." www.youtube.com/live/-GA506p...

In one hour, we'll be going live with Dr. Rob Williams from Oceans Initiative with his presentation "Bright Extinction and a Vision of Hope" Catch it in-person at The Whale Museum or streaming on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/-GA506p...

I had about an hour today on the west side of San Juan Island to watch J Pod pass by. It's been a long wait! #SRKW #orca #naturephotography #killerwhale

Southern Residents are currently in view of the Lime Kiln Livestream: www.youtube.com/live/eYUuLvT...

Happy World Orca Day everyone! We have just picked up SRKW on our Lime Kiln hydrophone as of 12:07 p.m. and the Haro Strait and Boundary Pass voluntary ship Slowdowns are now in effect! #WorldOrcaDay #SRKW #ECHOProgram

We are LIVE with SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach! Join us on YouTube at: www.youtube.com/live/Pp4q1vK...

Only one hour left until our Summer Lecture Series continues with a live presentation from SR3’s Dr. Holly Fearnbach! This talk is in-person at The Whale Museum and streaming on YouTube at 7:00 PM PT: www.youtube.com/live/Pp4q1vK...

Big news! Our latest paper, “Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales” has been published in “Current Biology”. This is the first known evidence of a marine mammal making tools out of objects in their environment. Explore more here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Join us for Orca Sing 2025! Tomorrow at 7:00 PM, come celebrate Washington State Parks and Orca Action Month at Lime Kiln Point State Park!

Thank you to everyone who attended in-person and online to hear from our new executive director! If you missed the talk, you can watch it on-demand here: www.youtube.com/live/RRz9Qt-...

We are LIVE now! Tune in to hear from our new executive director share the personal and professional journey that brought him to Friday Harbor and The Whale Museum: youtube.com/live/RRz9Qt-...

Join us at 7:00 PM PT tonight at The Whale Museum or streaming on YouTube to hear our new executive director, Dr. Mike Kuperberg, share the personal and professional journey that brought him to Friday Harbor and The Whale Museum: youtube.com/live/RRz9Qt-...

Join us for Orca Sing 2025! On June 21 at 7:00 PM, come celebrate Washington State Parks and Orca Action Month at Lime Kiln Point State Park!

It’s Orca Action Month, and a great time to learn more, volunteer, and talk to your friends and family about the threats facing Southern Residents! Orcamonth.org is building a calendar of so many great events this month, and TWM will also be announcing details for some fun, free events soon!

New and updated SRKW Pod T-shirts are now available at whalemuseum.org! These stylish t-shirts are designed and printed right here on San Juan Island by local artist Jenn Rigg! J Pod: whalemuseum.org/.../prod.../... K Pod: whalemuseum.org/products/adu... L Pod: whalemuseum.org/.../prod.../...

Just a reminder as seal pup season begins to give seals (and other marine mammals) as much space as you can! It’s best practice to stay 100 yards away from marine mammals when possible, though in situations where getting closer is unavoidable, please make every effort to minimize your disturbance.

The Whale Museum's Stranding Network was selected to be part of the San Juan Island Community Foundation's Spring SJI Cares campaign! We are raising funds for a new trailer for our Stranding vessel. If you are able, please consider supporting our work by donating: sjicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

Thank you to everyone who helped us reach our goal this #GiveBIG! We have felt so much support from our great community this month, from the dozens of people showing up for Stranding and Soundwatch volunteer trainings to all the folks who were able to chip in for GiveBig--thank you!

It’s #GiveBig today! Your support helps all our programs thrive! Whether it’s maintaining our unique exhibit hall or helping fund Soundwatch’s on-water work, the scope and scale of our work would not be possible without your support. Get that GIVING feeling: www.wagives.org/organization...

Happy Friday! Here are some nice #SRKW vocals our #LimeKiln hydrophone recorded in March. @thewhalemuseum.bsky.social #HaroStrait

Happy Earth Day from The Whale Museum! Today, we’re launching our 2025 #GiveBIG campaign! The Whale Museum is one of the many great organizations in the Pacific Northwest working for our environment every day, and we could not do it without your support: wagives.org/organization...

A Killer Whale grabbing bird this morning. Caught on the Lime Kiln Lighthouse camera, San Juan Island, Washington. #WSSJI

Another encounter on Apr 11, 2025 with members of both J and K pod is up on our encounters map! We were able to document J40 with the newest calf J63, as well as other active whales like J45 and J31!

Some highlights from J Pod’s trip to Lime Kiln this afternoon—we caught some big splashes on the livestream and picked up some great echolocation clicks and squeaks on the hydrophone!

A clip from the livestream from earlier in the hour. We think it's J Pod.

#Orcas currently visible on the Lime Kiln livestream! www.youtube.com/live/X_ufnBG...

Our Welcome the Whales festival begins Friday at 5PM and includes a full weekend of fun and educational activities. *NOTE: if you have previously walked in the parade, the staging location has changed this year.* For a full list of events, please visit: www.orcanetwork.org/events/welco...