Greenbank-based Orca Network has several programs coming up next month.
Learn about Orcas in the News March 1 at The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor.
The Whale Museum, in conjunction with Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators, will offer a presentation Saturday, March 1, by Orca Network on “Orcas in the News: What They Can Teach Us.”
The talk by Susan Berta and Howard Garrett of Orca Network will begin at 7:30 p.m. and include a digital slide show. Orca Network is a nonprofit organization based on Whidbey Island. Its Whale Sighting Network increases awareness of and knowledge about the Southern Resident Community of orcas.
Doors open at 7 p.m. A $3 donation per person will be accepted at the door. Members of The Whale Museum and of NAME, with current membership cards, receive free admission. The event includes complimentary refreshments and entrance to the museum’s exhibit gallery.
The Whale Museum, 62 First St. N., Friday Harbor, promotes stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research. Now open daily, admission is free to county residents every Thursday.
March 1 and 2 join Orca Network members at Penn Cove Mussel Festival in Coupeville.
Visit the display in the Recreation Hall, or bring kids by to make orca fin hats at the Children’s Activity canopy near the wharf. For more info. and festival schedule, go to:www.central
whidbeychamber.com/
mussel.htm
March 6, Howard Garrett and Susan Berta will give a presentation for the Camano Island Co/WSU Beach Watchers and the public at 6:30 pm at the Camano Center, Camano Island.
Learn all about the different populations of whales of the area, and where and when a person might best get to view them passing.
March 12, Orca Network is presenting a preview showing of the new documentary “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment,” by Tim Gorski of Miami Florida. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., at Race Road Fire Station, south of Coupeville. This amazing one-hour documentary follows Lolita’s life story, from her capture in Penn Cove in 1970 to her dismal situation today at the Miami Seaquarium, and the efforts by many individuals and organizations to bring her back home. There is new footage of her capture, interviews with those present at the time, and some great graphics to illustrate the event. The documentary features “Flipper” dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, Center for Whale Research director Ken Balcomb, activist Russ Rector and his video of the underside of Lolita’s tank and stadium, Ocean Drive Magazine’s Jerry Powers, and Howard Garrett of Orca Network, who has championed the campaign to return Lolita to Puget Sound for eight years. This sensitive and beautifully crafted documentary includes some of the best wild orca footage available, giving a sense of what Lolita is missing, and what she could have again.
To find out more about the documentary, or to order a copy of the video or DVD, go to: www.slavetoentertainment.com .
