Fort Worden State Park

Summer Kick-off

June 20th         Summer kick-off Free Admission
                        Exhibits open 11 am - 4 pm     
1-4 pm             Face painting and creating squid cookies
4 pm                Presentation: Tsunamis in Puget Sound
NOAA's Chris Moore will present an overview of how tsunamis are generated, the physics of ocean waves, and the history of past tsunamis. He will share the results of a study done in Puget Sound, and describe a demonstration of the forecast system being developed at NOAA National Center for Tsunami Research for implementation at NOAA's National Tsunami Warning Centers. Talk will begin in the Natural History Exhibit at 4 pm and is free.

June 21st         Father's Day: All Dads Free, All Day

June is Orca Month

Sunday, June 7: All About Orcas
Saturday, June 13: Listening for Orcas
Sunday, June 21: All About Orcas
Saturday, June 27: Listening for Orcas

All About Orcas (NHE) 2:30 pm
Do orcas have family structures?  What do they eat, and how do they find food in the vast ocean?  Where do they travel throughout the year?  Dive into this topic and discover the differences between transients and residents, and how scientists can tell based on diet, social interaction, and even dialect. 

Listening for Orcas (ME) 2:30 pm
What do orcas sound like and how do their vocalizations travel underwater?  Is the ocean a loud environment?  Find out the answers to these questions and more in this Orca Month program.  Get a chance to learn about how scientists study orcas by listening to our active hydrophone research station and get more information on how you can listen for orcas from your home computer.

PTMSC hosts presentation on the pink dolphins of the Peruvian Amazon

On Thursday, May 7th, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) will offer a presentation titled, “Using underwater sound to learn about the elusive Pink Dolphins of the Peruvian Amazon.” The lecture, given by Dave and Dottie Bonnett, from Silverdale, WA, will be at the Natural History Exhibit in Fort Worden State Park and will begin at 6 p.m. Admission is $7 at the door and $5 for PTMSC members.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Bonnetts to the PTMSC and to hear about the exciting research they’re doing in the Amazon jungle,” said Anne Murphy, executive director for the PTMSC. “We look forward to learning how Amazon Pink River Dolphins are impacted by ecosystem changes and seeing a demonstration of the techniques used to analyze the dolphins’ underwater sounds. It will be interesting to see how this correlates with what researchers are learning about Orcas here in the Salish Sea.”

The Bonnetts, who live in Silverdale, WA, have traveled extensively on the Upper Amazon River and its tributaries to visit the various humanitarian and conservation projects they help support. In 2007 and 2008, they traveled on a unique river boat to the remote Peruvian Amazon flooded jungle to collect underwater sound records of the Amazon Pink River Dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, a threatened species.

David and Dottie Bonnett moved to their 28 acre farm between Silverdale and Poulsbo in 1977. While keeping their farm as home base, they have worked and lived in Australia and Egypt and traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America. Dottie has a BS degree in Marine Biology from The University of Miami and Masters in Zoology from Miami University. Dave has a BS in Chemistry from Miami University. They will travel back to the Amazon in June when more dolphin recordings will be collected.

PTMSC hosts lecture on “Investigating the wreckage of the last glaciation in NW Washington”

On Tuesday, April 28th from 5:15-7 p.m., the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) welcomes research geologist Ralph Haugerud from the U.S. Geological Survey as a guest speaker to present “Investigating the wreckage of the last glaciation in Northwest Washington.” The presentation is part of the regular meeting of the Geology Study Group held at the Natural History Exhibit in Fort Worden State Park and is free to the public. “We appreciate Mr. Haugerud taking time from his busy schedule to share his insights with our study group,” said Anne Murphy, executive director for the PTMSC. The presentation will address new high-resolution lidar topography which discloses landforms that detail the waning of the last ice sheet. About 17,000 years ago, the ice sheet, flowing south from Canada, reached its maximum extent with a terminus a few miles south of Olympia. The distribution of relict meltwater channels details progressive northwards retreat of the ice margin. Rather than a textbook retreat, with backing up of a still-moving glacier that delivered ice and rock debris to progressively younger and more northerly glacier margins, evidence suggests that ice in the Puget Lowland stopped moving and melted in place. This is possibly because the ice sheet in the Strait of Juan de Fuca collapsed and isolated Puget Lowland ice from its sources. Haugerud is stationed in Seattle at the University of Washington where he studies the geology of the Pacific Northwest, concentrating on the North Cascades and, more recently, the Puget and Fraser lowlands with a special emphasis on earthquake hazards. He is co-author, with Rowland Tabor, of Geology of the North Cascades, published by The Mountaineers.

PTMSC Lecture on Ending the Age of Disposable Plastics

Lecture: Monday, April 6, 7 pm in the NHE
Admission: $5 members; $7 non-members

The man, who in the summer of 2008 sailed from California to Hawaii on a raft made of recycled and “junk” materials, including 15,000 plastic bottles for flotation, is making another type of journey this spring. He and fiancée, Anna Cummins, will pedal from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico, handing out Pacific Ocean gyre samples, giving presentations and talking with legislators. Eriksen and Cummins will visit 15 cities, with Port Townsend being their first US stop.

Eriksen is the Director of Research and Education at Algalita Marine Research Foundation of Long Beach CA, the group that has received international recognition for their on-going research in the NE Pacific gyre started in 1999. Cummins joined the Algalita team in 2007 as education adviser and completed a month long, 4,000 mile research expedition studying plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre. Algalita’s work inspired the PTMSC to start our plastics education and monitoring program in 2007.

This will be Eriksen’s third trip to Port Townsend and this time Anna will co-present with him.  Please join us in giving them a warm welcome in recognition of the truly amazing and relentless work they are doing to build awareness about the health of our oceans and waterways.  We suggest you check the papers and the PTMSC website as the date approaches since they will be arriving by bike!

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.

Bring Your Bones Day

Saturday, January 17, 2009 1-4pm, Natural History Exhibit

Be in a room surrounded by huge whale bones, tiny bird bones, complete skeletons…and bring in any old bones you’ve found and treasured. Come to the Natural History Exhibit at Fort Worden State Park. Bring Your Bones Day is a free event and is for beachcombers, artists, families and anyone fascinated by the unknown.

On hand to examine, help identify and tell stores about the bones will be a master marine mammal skeleton articulator from Alaska, Lee Post, aka “Mr. Boneman,” and Dr. Tony Rogstad, the veterinarian from Chimacum Valley Vet Hospital, who is also a wildlife specialist. Bones from the PTMSC’s collection will also be on display. See grey whale, seal, otter, dolphin and bird skeletons. No formal presentations are planned.

People can drop in any time during the three-hour period and informally ask questions, compare, chat or simply feast their eyes on the wonderful shapes on display. Artists and budding naturalists are especially encouraged to come and draw, paint or visually document the collection.

Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve Cruises

Protection Island, at the mouth of Discovery Bay, is a National Wildlife Refuge, and many birds take advantage of the good habitat and abundant feeding opportunities to recover from nesting in the Arctic or on inland lakes and rivers. Since 1994, when we started collaborating with Puget Sound Express, we have been enjoying this great opportunity right in our own back yard. The cruises feature a large comfortable boat, expert onboard commentary, and the chance to better understand our local environment. These trips are appropriate for all ages. Saturday, Nov 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1 pm till 4 pm In collaboration with Puget Sound Express. Call 360-385-5582 ext. 104 for reservations. $55 non-members; $50 members PTMSC, Audubon, Burke Museum and WOS

Puget Sound Kids Day Event - Saturday, Oct. 11

Join PTMSC docent extrodinare, Moh O'Hanlon, and learn how to build your own plankton net.  Using simple household materials, Moh will help you contruct a net that you can use to filter tiny plants and animals from the sea and look at them under a microscope, revealing the world in a drop of seawater.  RSVP to Chrissy McLean at 385-5582 x109