The Whale Museum

10/16/2026

Our new exhibit is taking shape! 🐋✨ Join us on October 23 for the premiere of Critical Distance!

🔗 Find more details here: whalemuseum.org/pages/criticaldistance

10/15/2026

Something new is making waves at The Whale Museum! 🐋🌊

Get ready to experience Critical Distance, an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience that takes you into the world of Southern Resident killer whales in a whole new way.

Meet Kiki and discover how she communicates with her family through echolocation, while experiencing some of the challenges her family faces in the Salish Sea. This is more than a chance to learn about killer whales — it’s an opportunity to see their world from a different perspective and discover how we can help protect it.

Join us for this exciting new exhibit, premiering October 23 at The Whale Museum!

✨ Curious to know what awaits you? Explore the exhibit details here:
https://whalemuseum.org/pages/criticaldistance

We look forward to welcoming you!

09/27/2026

Today The Whale Museum celebrates ! This footage shows pink salmon parr and Dolly Varden trout in calmer part of a freshwater river!

Rivers play a key role in supporting Southern Resident killer whales! Chinook salmon, their primary food source, are hatched and spend months developing upriver, and as they journey out to the Pacific Ocean, the brackish estuaries formed where these freshwater rivers meet the Salish Sea play a crucial role in what’s called smoltification, where a salmon’s body physiologically adapts to be able to live in salt water. The insects, plankton, eelgrass beds, and temperatures in these estuaries are the perfect setting for that process before the salmon move on to the Pacific Ocean to feed.

Whether it’s insects, eelgrass beds, or salmon runs, the protection and prosperity of the rivers of the Pacific Northwest is vital to ensure the future of the Southern Resident killer whales.

09/18/2026

J-63, first spotted last April, has been named by the Samish Indian Nation: Ts’ele7álhse (tsuh-luh-ALTH-suh), meaning “the heart of the Salish Sea.”

The Whale Museum is thrilled to update our records with the calf’s new name, and we hope to begin symbolic adoptions of Ts’ele7álhse soon!

The Samish Indian Nation chose the name Ts’ele7álhse, which means “the heart of the Salish Sea” in Coast Salish.

09/03/2026

The final numbers are in from the Campaign and we are thrilled to announce that we met our $20,000 goal! Thank you to everyone who made this possible, we could not do this without you.

We are so thankful for our generous donors and to the San Juan Island Community Foundation for partnering with us to make this happen.

We are also grateful to have the support of a local couple who pledged to match the first $20,000 we raised, bringing our total funding for our building renovations to over $40,000 dollars.

It is because of all of you that we can begin crucial renovations on our historic building, and because it's all exterior work, you’ll be able to watch your support be put to work. This community’s support means the world to us, and we cannot wait to share our progress with you.

Thank you!

08/28/2026

The Whale Museum was excited to be featured by the Whale Talk Podcast recently! Our Soundwatch Coordinator, Dr. Alex Borowicz and our Response Program Coordinator, Erin Casellas, both joined for quick interviews!

Catch the full episode on the Whale Talk Podcast's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/H55FE4Yo8ko?si=3ctcP5Bv6Smk5Bnu