Orca Project: Bone Atlas

What do you get when you combine an orca skeleton and a team of dedicated volunteers? At PTMSC we have combined the two to form the Orca Project. The current goal of this citizen science project is to measure and photograph the bones of a deceased transient orca. Once all the bones are measured and photographed, we plan to put it all together in a reference guide called the Orca Bone Atlas.

Jennifer Jackson, of the Peninsula Daily News, stopped by last week to check out the Orca Project and wrote up an article about what we are doing. Check out the online article here, or pick up the paper from Monday, July 6th to read the full article with pictures.

Want to see what it takes to measure and photograph orca bones? Stop on by the Natural History Exhibit from 10 am to 3 pm on July 13th, 15th, 16th, or 17th and we can walk you through it. Our volunteers, like Katherine and Debbie in the picture above, will be working on the project all week. Admission to this special "living" exhibit is included with your admission to the Port Townsend Marine Science Center which includes both Natural History and Marine Exhibits.