With orcas making headlines, Saturday’s Ways of Whales workshop in Coupeville will focus exclusively on the gentle giants.

In previous years, the annual workshop has featured presentations about different species of whales. Susan Berta, co-founder of the Orca Network, said the workshop this year is devoted solely to Southern Resident orcas because the species has been listed as endangered and a flood of new research has become available.

“This is the first year the workshop’s going to be completely orca-centric,” Berta said. “We try to vary the presentations and focus each year.”

The workshop, which will be held at Coupeville Middle School Performing Arts Center, will deal with scientific aspects of the orca’s existence as well as cultural issues.

“There are a lot of interesting projects and research taking place recently because of the endangered listing of the Southern Resident community,” Berta said.

A handful of orcas that were killed during the Penn Cove orca capture in 1970 are believed to be buried in various sites on Whidbey Island. An upcoming project to exhume the remains for DNA analysis will be carried out in a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Washington, and the Orca Network. On Saturday, Mike Etnier of Applied Osteology, a zoologist who will oversee the project, will discuss his intriguing work of looking into the past by examining the bones and teeth from the skeletons of orcas.

Etnier will give his presentation at 3:30 p.m.

Sign-up and registration for the workshop will take place at 8:30 a.m. A welcome period and introduction to the Orca Network will kickoff the workshop at 9 a.m., with an update given on the Southern Resident community of orcas.

Howard Garrett of the Orca Network will continue edifying workshop attendees on the resident orca community at 9:30 a.m. with his presentation, “Who are the Southern Resident Orcas?” Garrett will discuss the unique cultural side of orcas, and why it is so important to keep the special community of orcas alive and well.

Jason Wood of Beam Reach Sustainability School will go in a different direction with his presentation, “Killer Whales and elephants: a comparison of social organization and communication.” The talk will focus on comparing the social systems and resulting communication systems of resident killer whales and African elephants.

Following a lunch break, Stephen Raverty of the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, will give a presentation called, “Epidemiologic and pathologic findings of killer whales stranded worldwide 1945-2005.” Raverty, a renowned veterinary pathologist, will provide an overview of approximately 230 killer whales stranded worldwide and a summary of findings in 40 cases between 1973 and 2000.

“He is really a respected researcher and just a wonderful person,” Berta said. “We’re very excited to hear what he has to say.”

Fifteen minutes are set aside in the afternoon to remember the late orca Luna. Greg Schorr will then shed some light on recent research into what the killer whales are eating in his presentation, “Investigations of associations of Southern Resident killer whales and their prey.” Schorr is with the Cascadia Research Collective, and has been assisting with NOAA Fisheries research projects to obtain fish scale samples from orca feeding events, as well as fecal samples, which provide not only nutrition information but DNA that can also be analyzed.

Etnier will close out the workshop with his presentation.

The bulk of the 70 people pre-registered for the workshop are from off-island, a phenomenon that has been observed in recent years. Berta is encouraging more local whale lovers and knowledge seekers to attend, as the workshop provides an opportunity to hear from the best experts in the Northwest about the endangered orcas that have a long history with Whidbey Island and the area.

“Unfortunately, part of our island’s history with the orcas is that many were captured or died during captures in Penn Cove in the early 1970s,” Berta said. “The orca bone recovery project is one way for us to have a more positive connection with the orcas, and there is much more each of us can do to save this fragile population. We urge you to attend the workshop to learn more about these wonderful finned neighbors of ours, and learn how you can help keep them around for generations to come.”

The inauspicious weather forecast for the end of the week might be keeping people from registering. Berta said the conditions are supposed to be much better for Saturday.

“It’s going to be a great event, and since it won’t be a great day for being outdoors, it should be a perfect day for being inside and watching beautiful slides of orcas breaching in the sunshine,” she said.

To register for the workshop, access the Orca Network’s Web site at www.orcanetwork.org or call 678-3451. The fee is $20 or $10 for students.