Annual Holiday Gift Shop Sale

Friday, November 28 - Sunday, November 30th

Need gifts for the holidays?  Shop local, and come down to the PTMSC Gift Shop located in the Natural History Exhibit for our annual Holiday Gift Shop Sale! 

Members receive 15% off their purchase, and non-members receive 10% off.  What a deal!  We have great books by local authors, puzzles, field guides, toys, clothing, and more.  Gift memberships to PTMSC and gift certificates in any amount are also available.

Bring canned goods to donate to the Jefferson County Food Bank, and get a free gift.  Hot apple cider, hot chocolate, and other yummy treats available upon admission to the exhibits.

Can't make it that weekend?  That's okay!  We're open every Friday - Sunday 12-5pm through December.  You'll have plenty of opportunities to buy local! 

Be A Toxic Free Zone in the Natural History Exhibit

Come see what's new in our Natural History Exhibit! Just in time for our currently running workshop series "Be A Toxic Free Zone," we've completed the installation of a new exhibit panel. The interactive display invites you to explore how the choices you make in your own home can positively affect the health of the ocean. 

Allison, Phil and Jean hard at work installing the new panel.

We have already had great conversations with visitors about changes they can make to ensure their homes and waterways are free of toxics. Stop by and see the latest addition to our exhibit!

The panel is a hit!

If you're interested in attending our free Be A Toxic Free Zone workshop series, you can find the schedule and other information here: Be A Toxic Free Zone

The Tides and Eddies of Puget Sound

the second installment of The Future of Oceans Lecture Series

with generous support by the Darrow Family

Sunday, November 2 @ 3pm
Fort Worden Chapel

$10 admission ($5 PTMSC members)

November’s lecturer, Parker MacCready, is Professor of Oceanography in the University of Washington’s College of the Environment. He has worked for the past 15 years studying tidal currents and general circulation of Pacific Ocean waters, including a number of projects in Puget Sound and the San Juans. His work combines detailed field studies with realistic computer models, trying to discover the processes that turn the energy of tides, winds, and rivers into the circulation patterns that control the biological productivity of the Puget Sound estuary.

In this talk he will explore the tides in Puget Sound, from their astronomical origin to the the extraordinary fronts and eddies so apparent to boaters. This then leads to consideration of the turbulent mixing these eddies cause, and how they drive a large, persistent current of deep Pacific water though the Sound. It is this circulation, many times greater than that of all our rivers, that brings nutrients which feed the abundant growth of phytoplankton in our waters.

MacCready began his exploration of moving fluids with human-powered vehicles. His research career was stimulated when his father, Paul MacCready, created the first human powered aircraft, the Gossamer Condor. As a teenager, Parker MacCready was one of its first cyclist/test pilots. Their second aircraft, the 70 lb. Gossamer Albatross, hangs in Boeing’s Museum of Flight, in Seattle: this was the first human powered vehicle to cross the 22-mile wide English Channel, on June 12, 1979. At California Institute of Technology, the younger MacCready built a human powered hydrofoil craft, the ‘Pogofoil’, for his Master of Science degree. He then completed his Ph.D. research at University of Washington, producing a new theory of the circulation of the deepest layers of the ocean, which overturned traditional ideas about the way the ocean interacts with its coasts and bottom.


The Future of Oceans Lecture Series: With more than seven-tenths of the planet’s surface covered in salt water, the future health of our oceans is critical. Join the PTMSC for a series of five lectures on The Future of Oceans the first Sunday of every month, from October through March, (except January due to holidays) to learn about topics such as El Niño, the tides and eddies in Puget Sound, what’s beneath the Salish Sea, Arctic images, and ocean acidification. All lectures are at Fort Worden and the series is provided by the generous support of the Darrow family.

see the poster here.

If You Give An Octopus a Camera...

Octopus Handling 101: As fun as it might seem at the time, it's probably not the best idea to entrust a wiggly octopus with your underwater camera. Although we thought it would be fascinating to have Inky film the inside of her tank and get her perspective on life at the Marine Science Center, it turned out that she was more interested in playing with the camera than filming with it! 

First we attempted to retrieve the camera with grabbers, but Inky was having far too much fun to let go just yet. We were worried she would try to open the camera to see if there was some food hidden inside!

We finally managed to retrieve the camera (while still filming!) with the skillful use of several nets. We offered her a treat in return for the camera, but Inky seemed put out at losing her favorite new toy. 

You can view the footage Inky shot (with appearances by Shannon, Carolyn and Rae) on our YouTube channel: 

DO WELL BY DOING GOOD - Estate Planning for You, Your Family and Your Community

photo by Jamie Montague

Wednesday,

November 5th, 2014 

3 – 5 p.m.

Natural History Exhibit at Fort Worden State Park       

You are invited to join three knowledgeable professionals for a free seminar on estate planning. Learn how to make an estate plan that will benefit you, your loved ones, and the organizations you support. You will learn what to include in your will, how to avoid probate, which gifts to leave to heirs and which to charitable causes to get the best tax advantages, how to receive income while making a gift during your lifetime, and other strategic giving options. An estate plan can help you provide for your family, as well as leave a lasting legacy through the non-profit organization(s) of your choice. Planned gifts offer people of all income levels a way to make a difference for future generations.

The seminar will be conducted by:

• Stephen C. Moriarty, Attorney at Law, specialist in estate planning  with the firm of Platt, Irwin and Taylor;
• Betty A. Abersold, Investment Advisory Associate, Girard Securities, Inc.
• John Mackey, Certified Public Accountant with the firm of Gooding, O’Hara and Mackey

You will not be solicited in any way, nor will any particular investment products or methods be promoted.  The seminar is free and open to everyone. Please call 385-5582, ext 101 with questions or to RSVP.