Fort Worden State Park

News Report on Orcas Passing by Fort Worden

Anchor Dennis Bounds of Seattle's KING 5 television said, "This most recent visit was first reported by a volunteer at the Port Townsend Marine [Science] Center who was letting a visiting class of third graders listen to some hydrophones when they suddenly heard dozens of approaching
orcas." Click image to go to KING 5 video.

Using Sound to Save Species

On Saturday, February 21st at 4 p.m. in Fort Worden’s Building 204, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center will hold its annual meeting. Anne Murphy, executive director for the PTMSC will briefly present an organizational perspective, looking backwards and forwards, and then she’ll turn the floor over to guest lecturer, Dr. Jason Wood to present Whales and Elephants: Using Sound to Save Species. Admission is free to PTMSC members, $5 for non-members.

“We’re honored to have Dr. Wood as our keynote speaker for our annual meeting this year,” said Murphy. “His presentation will highlight acoustic communication in African elephants and Southern Resident killer whales while exploring ways in which their sound is important to their survival, how sounds can be used to monitor their populations and how sound humans generate can impact these species.”

Jason Wood received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2003 where his dissertation focused on the acoustic communication of African elephants. He then spent two years as a post-doctoral scholar at Stanford University in the Geophysics and then Otolaryngology departments where his work focused on seismic communication in elephants and developing a seismic census technique.

Since 2006, Dr. Wood has been a lead instructor for Beam Reach, a marine science and sustainability school, where students earn credits from the University of Washington for conducting their own research on the acoustics of the Southern Resident killer whales.

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is devoted to understanding, preserving and teaching about our marine and shoreline environment as guardians for a sustainable future. Located on the beach at Fort Worden State Park, the PTMSC offers two public exhibits: the Marine Exhibit (ME) features large touch pools and aquaria, and the Natural History Exhibit (NHE) highlights the rich zone where land meets sea. The Natural History Exhibit is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for youth and free to PTMSC members. The Marine Exhibit is closed for the season but open by appointment. The PTMSC also offers a wide variety of educational programs and special events. For more information, call 360.385.5582, e-mail info@ptmsc.org or visit www.ptmsc.org.

Restoring and Preserving Old Buildings

Free lecture  on Thursday February 19th at 6:30pm

We're proud to present this Lecture by Kevin Palo in our "The Art and Craft of Working with Wood Lecture Series" on Thursday February 19th at 6:30pm.

This is an important subject for Port Townsend and Fort Worden. There is a proposal from the Planning Department that many of the older buildings (even such your ones as a '50's rambler) could be subject to a historic preservation review. That is the stick.

The carrot is that you can get a property tax break on building improvements that are historically sensitive and retain original features. We hope to have members of the Historic Preservation Commision at the lecture

We're not planning to get embroiled in what will be a vigorous discussion around town.

Doing a good historic preservation job on an old home or building can be daunting. But when an old home is viewed through the eyes of a preservationist you begin to see that some of the problems are easily solved when you understand the construction methods used to build the house. Similarly the historic value of a house can be preserved by not indulging in wholesale demolition and replacement with modern windows or doors. Old windows with storm windows can have a similar, if not better, insulating value than modern replacement windows.

Kevin has joined our faculty to lead the Historic Preservation Program. Kevin has more than 30 years of experience in restoring Old Buildings. This lecture is a teaser for our Introduction to Historic Preservation course in March.

Port Townsend School of Woodworking
Building 315, Fort Worden State Park,
Port Townsend, WA 98368
(360) 344-4455