Summer Fundraising Campaign Honors 40th Anniversary

One of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s core values is multi-generational learning. Our 40 years are a testament to that.

Quinton Coley at age 5
with his grandpa Peter Badame 

Take Quinton Coley. He began exploring the Salish Sea with his grandpa, Peter Badame, who was one of the first PTMSC staffers. Quinton, now 12, has attended summer camp every year since he was five.

Quinton Coley (age 12) this summer, learning
about the Salish Sea at PTMSC's Marine
Biology: Afoot and Afloat camp  

“I have seen my grandson develop his skills of observation and deduction,” says Peter. “I’ve witnessed his increasing curiosity, and his respect and joy for the mysteries and interconnectedness of the natural world. The PTMSC connects youth like Quinton with the Salish Sea, which is so important for our shared future.”

Betty Petrie, former PTMSC board member

Then there’s former board members Johanna King and Betty Petrie were involved in flensing a gray whale found on the beach near Middle Point over 20 years ago. Little did they know how many generations would benefit from their discovery.


“It was a messy, smelly job flensing that whale,” says Johanna. “But it was well worth the effort when I see the next generation of marine scientists being inspired by these bones and the story of ‘Spirit’ the gray whale.”

Bee Redfield, PTMSC's Executive Director

Today, under the leadership our new executive director, Bee Redfield, we are poised to expand our mission to inspire conservation of the Salish Sea. Bee has been meeting with stakeholders since she started in April. A recurring theme is concern about climate change and its impact on the ocean and on sea level rise. 

“At the same time,” Bee says, “there is great excitement about how our new facility on Water Street is an opportunity to reach so many more people with the story of how we can powerfully respond to these big challenges.”

Please join us as we strive to inspire even more ocean stewards.

Your donation funds efforts such as:

• Citizen science projects like the Dungeness crab larval study and the clam shell ocean acidification study to better understand current ocean conditions.

• A program for 5th and 6th graders that includes a town-hall simulation teaching civic dialogue on issues such as a carbon tax to address ocean acidification.

• Exhibits of Salish Sea habitats in our aquarium, the threats they face, and the solutions being created by scientists and advocates today.

 

Be part of the solution!  

Inspire more generations of ocean stewards like Quinton, Peter, Johanna and Betty by donating today.  

Double your money by taking advantage of a challenge match of $8,500 by August 31.  

Free Science Classes for Local Schools

Winter Classes Teach Students About Conservation and the Salish Sea

Since 2008, the AmeriCorps members at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center have coordinated free science classes (FSC), a grant-funded winter program that offers free classes and bus fares to schools within about an hour’s drive of Port Townsend. We reach out mainly to schools with a higher percentage of students on free or reduced-price lunches, which otherwise might not have the chance to visit our exhibits.

The goal of this program is to introduce and inspire conservation of the Salish Sea to students from the area. This year, AmeriCorps Natural History Educator Ellie Kravets took the lead on coordinating the FSC logistics.

Each class that attends takes part in one class in the museum and one in the aquarium. This year, Ellie, Mandi Johnson, Michael Siddel and I decided to design two new curricula for the classes. Both of them require a high level of participation from the class to get students excited about the material.

Ellie Kravets and students in the TownQuest class discussing how plastics can harm animals.
Photo by PTMSC staff. 

The museum class, “TownQuest: A Salish Sea Adventure,” features a “choose your own adventure” style activity in which the students make decisions as townspeople. Their decisions impact the amount of plastic waste in the Salish Sea, the morale of their fellow townspeople, or both. Students utilize their critical thinking skills to come to decisions about how to minimize and solve environmental challenges.

Students working on their "Adaptation Scavenger Hunt"
in the aquarium for the Invertebrates class.
Photo by PTMSC staff. 

The aquarium class, “Invent an Invertebrate,” focuses on various  marine invertebrates’ adaptations that help them survive in their habitat. Students learn about the adaptations, see them in the aquarium, and then invent their own invertebrate by buying various adaptations with “sand dollars.”

The final piece of the FSC puzzle is the group of volunteers that help us with each class. We wouldn’t be able to keep all of the kids engaged and focused without their help!

This is the 12th year that PTMSC has held these classes for schools in the area. Prior to this year, the program had reached 7,325 students with an average of 665 students per year. We currently have 650 students enrolled for this year, with the possibility of adding an additional 100 students from one more school.

One of my favorite parts of this program is comparing the pre- and post-FSC surveys—something that each of the students fills out to show what they learned during our classes. I love seeing their ideas about how they are going to make a difference by being more thoughtful about plastic reduction and making sustainable choices.

With five weeks of classes left to go, I’m excited to continue showing students how interesting our environment is and helping them to see that it is worth saving!

Written by AmeriCorps Aquarium Educator Marley Loomis.

Hear From Our Summer Camp Instructors & GiveBig Tomorrow!

Sand, Sun, & Fun!

Just because school is out for the summer doesn’t mean that learning has to stop!  Longer days and lower tides mean more time to spend exploring the beach. At PTMSC we run several weeks of camp each summer, providing hands-on marine science activities for children 3 to 13 years old.

Carolyn guiding students in the Marine Exhibit @ PTMSC

I’ve spent the past three summers working on science camps, including two years at PTMSC. I enjoy the opportunity to spend a week with a group of kids exploring and learning about the marine environment, and it’s especially satisfying to see learning happen while kids are having fun. The ability for both staff and campers to experiment and try new things out is one of my favorite features of our summer camps. Many campers return to us year after year, which is a great opportunity to build on their knowledge and their relationship with the Marine Science Center.

Carolyn presenting science models to summer campers

I’m most looking forward to expanded camp offerings this year, including an additional week of Marine Biology Afoot and Afloat. Many children have already been turned away this year because of full enrollment. Plans are in the works for expanded facilities and more camp offerings. We couldn't do what we do without the amazing work of our Americorps members who are actively involved in the summer camp programs and engage with kids directly about the marine environment.

I learn more every year about which experiences inspire the most excitement and passion in our campers, helping make each camp more fun and memorable. While planning programs I often think back to the outdoor education experiences I had as a child, and the impact that those activities had in shaping my interest in the natural world and my passion for conservation.

 - Carolyn Woods, PTMSC Education Coordinator 

On Wednesday, May 10, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center invites you to help raise $22,000 for summer camps scholarships and capacity-building to offer more camps through GiveBIG, a one-day, online charitable giving event hosted by the Seattle Foundation, but we can't do it without your help! Thanks to a challenge match from a group of local donors, the first $11,000 donated will be matched dollar-for-dollar. The #GiveBIG campaign only lasts for one day, so follow along onFacebook and the #PTMSC blog for stories and updates before the BIG day.

Invaders on the Move

National Invasive Species Week is this week February 26th- March 4^th. What a great time to raise awareness about some local invaders and how we can help to stop the spread of invasive species. Let me start by answering the question of what exactly is an invasive species? By definition, an invasive species a one that is not native to the ecosystem and when introduced has negative effects. Some invaders in Washington include plants and animals such as Scotch broom, the Wood-boring Beetle, and the European Green Crab.

  The European Green Crab is native to the Atlantic coast of Europe and Northern Africa. It is a relatively small crab with a carapace ( back shell) growing only 3.5-4 inches across. Green crabs  were first documented on the east coast of the US in 1817. They are relatively new to the west coast with their first appearances showing up in the San Francisco Bay in 1989. It didn’t take long for them to make their way up the coast to Washington. In 1997-1998 an El Nino event pushed them north up the coast into Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
So what’s the all fuss with a tiny crab? Well, this crab may be small but is quite durable and able to adapt to a number of different environments. It can adapt to many temperatures and enjoys eating and disturbing eelgrass habitat. Eelgrass is a very important nursery habitat for a number of aquatic young animals including salmon and Dungeness crabs. To learn more about the importance of eelgrass check out this blog post by our Marine Exhibit AmeriCorps Educator. Green crabs also enjoy some of the very seafood which humans have a palate for. These crabs love to eat soft shelled clams, scallops, young oysters, as well as native crab species. 

So now that we are up to speed on these little guys takeover of the country’s coastal waters, the next question is, where does that leave us here in the Salish Sea region? On August 30^th 2016, one European green crab was found in Westcott Bay, on the northwest end of San Juan Island. Since then, the crabs have been spotted in Padilla Bay. At this point in time there is no evidence of established green crab communities.

Thankfully, there is a dedicated group of individuals who have made it their mission to help stop this arthropodic invasion. Crab team is a group who partners with Washington Sea Grant, the department of Washington Fish and Wildlife, and numerous citizen science volunteers. They survey a number of different sites in the Salish Sea looking for signs of the European Green Crab. With Crab team working hard, they are on the leading edge of a potential species invasion, which is a good place to be says Emily Grason, the Crab Team’s project coordinator.

European Green Crab  (Carcinus maenas) Photo by Sean McDonald

With this new awareness of the invasive green crab there are some steps you can take to help prevent the invasion in the Salish Sea area. Anytime you are out on a beach walk, take a look at the crabs and crab molts you are seeing.

How to Identify a European Green Crab:

•          5 spines on the outside of each eye
•          Up to 4 inches across the carapace or back shell
•          Wider at the front of the carapace

*The color of this crab can range from dark green to orange or red*

If you find a crab that looks like it could be a European green crab, here are the steps you can take:

1.       Take photos

2.       Record your location

3.       Leave the crab where you found it

4.       Report it to (crabteam@uw.edu)

To find out more about the European Green Crab or how you can become a crab team volunteer visit http://wsg.washington.edu/crabteam.  For some helpful information about other invasive species in Washington visit http://www.invasivespecies.wa.gov/priorities.shtml.

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Sarah Croston, Americorps - Natural History and Volunteer Educator

Port Townsend Marine Science Center to Host New Year’s Eve Cruise

Port Townsend, WA, December 31, 2016—The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is inviting participants to cruise with them to Protection Island aboard one of Puget Sound Express’ heated, fully enclosed whale-watching boats with 360-degree windows, wrap-around observation decks, and a cozy interior. The sail will take place on Saturday, December 31st from 1-4 pm, leaving from the dock at the end of Water Street in Port Townsend and setting off on a 3-hour adventure.

Port Townsend Marine Science Center Naturalist, Roger Risley, will be onboard to assist in wildlife spotting and interpretation, accompanied by informative Port Townsend Marine Science Center hosts.

A staple of the science center’s seasonal offerings, the New Year’s Eve cruise is wildly popular among tourists and locals alike. Participants enjoy a leisurely tour of the wildlife sanctuary and the enlightening comments from the onboard naturalist. In addition to experiencing and learning about the local marine life, participants have also gotten to witness a variety of birds while taking the cruise including loon, grebe, cormorant, merganser, duck, scoter, phalarope, tern, and puffin, just to name a few.

PTMSC Executive Director Janine Boire is confident this year will be no different. “We have been partnering with Puget Sound Express for this special holiday birding adventure around Protection Island for years,” Boire said. “It’s such a unique, special way to connect people with the Salish Sea and celebrate the holiday seasons. The New Year’s Eve cruise, in the midst of the busy holiday season, makes it particularly popular for those with family or friends visiting looking for a festive and warm way to get out on the water.”

The New Year’s Eve cruise departs at 1 pm on December 31 from the dock opposite the Puget Sound Express offices at the east end of Water Street in Port Townsend and returns to the dock at 4 pm. Tickets for the Protection Island New Year’s Cruise are $80 per person or $60 for members of PTMSC, Audubon, Burke Museum, or Washington Ornithological Society.

For more information on the New Year’s Eve Cruise, or to reserve your spot here or call (360) 385-5288.

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is inspiring conservation of the Salish Sea. A new initiative—Gone Green? Go Blue! Support Your Local Ocean—encourages collective action and civic engagement. Located on the beach at Fort Worden, the PTMSC offers two public exhibits: the Marine Exhibit and the Natural History Exhibit. The Natural History & Orca exhibit is open Friday through Sunday, 12 to 5 pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youth, and free to PTMSC members. The PTMSC also offers a wide variety of educational programs and special events. For more information, call 360.385.5582, e-mail info@ptmsc.org or visit www.ptmsc.org/events.

The Wonders Beneath the Waves

Eelgrass Meadows are an important habitat for many animals in the Salish Sea © PTMSC 1991

When walking on the beach near Fort Worden, I am always on the hunt for Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) to add to our display in the Marine Exhibit. I often find what I’m looking for near the high tide line, in a tangled ball that has been uprooted and washed ashore by the waves. Searching for Eelgrass is like a treasure hunt for me, where each tangled ball I find is a clue that  provides me with insight to the wonders that lie beneath the waves. Adding the Eelgrass to the display transforms it even further. The tangled mass I collected on the beach unfurls. Vertically suspended in the water column the blades of Eelgrass sway as the water circulates throughout the tank.

Eelgrass (Zostera Marina) collected

off of the beach at Fort Worden. Photo by Juhi LaFuente

The Eelgrass tank illuminated by sunlight.
 Photo by PTMSC

At first glance, this tank appears to be filled with Eelgrass and nothing more. However, upon further examination, what I think is a piece of Eelgrass turns out to be a juvenile Bay Pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) seeking refuge in the tangle of blades. I begin to notice more and more pairs of eyes peering back at me. Tiny Tadpole Sculpins (Psychrolutes paradoxus) dart back and forth, and eel-like fish, called Gunnels, peak their heads out to survey their surroundings. Along the bottom, Crabs scuttle and a Sea Cucumber slowly grazes in search of food. This underwater meadow is, in fact, teeming with life.

A Bay Pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus)
disguises itself as a piece of Eelgrass.
Photo by Juhi LaFuente

The Eelgrass display in the Marine Exhibit provides visitors with a glimpse into an important nearshore habitat that often goes unseen beneath the waves. Eelgrass is a flowering marine plant that is widely dispersed throughout the Salish Sea. Found in tidelands and shallow waters, Eelgrass thrives in soft sediment habitats that receive plenty of sunlight. A network of underground stems, called rhizomes, help stabilize the surrounding sediment and anchor the Eelgrass in place. In dense meadows, blades of Eelgrass also help impede current flow and buffers the shoreline from oncoming waves.  


Many invertebrates and fish depend on and use Eelgrass beds for food and protection from predators. Eelgrass helps ensure the survival of juvenile fish such as Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) and Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). These fish are important sources of food for many animals. Chinook salmon are the preferred food of the Southern Resident Orcas (Orcinus orca) residing in the Puget Sound.    

Found in such close proximity to the shore, eelgrass beds do not go undisturbed by humans. Eelgrass beds in the Puget Sound are threatened by shoreline development, including dredging and the construction of over water structures that block sunlight. Boaters also risk damaging these beds by cutting the grass with their propellers and tearing it up with their anchors. In order to protect Eelgrass habitat, boaters are advised to slow down or stop when cruising over Eelgrass beds and encouraged to avoid anchoring in eelgrass altogether.
 

In an effort to protect Eelgrass beds, the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee established voluntary “No Anchor Zones” along the Port Townsend Waterfront. These zones are marked by special buoys and protect over 50 acres of Eelgrass in the waters off Port Townsend. Since the installation of these buoys in 2004, the Marine Resources Committee has observed a  98% compliance within these no anchor zones.

As the AmeriCorps Marine Exhibit Educator, I enjoy engaging visitors in conversations about our local marine life and important nearshore ecosystems like Eelgrass. Your donations to support the Marine Exhibit help ensure that visitors of all ages will be able to continue to explore, observe and learn about the wonders beneath the waves. The Marine Exhibit plays an integral role in helping us fulfill our mission “Inspiring Conservation of the Salish Sea”, Thank you for making this possible through your continued support.

Please consider donating today. https://ptmsc.org/get-involved/donate

Juhi LaFuente is the Marine Exhibit Educator and an AmeriCorps member serving at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.

"Why are the Crabs Dirty?"

Please consider making a gift today to support our tanks, and our decorator crabs from the Salish Sea. Donate HERE!

“Why are the crabs dirty?” I heard behind me in the Marine Exhibit one day. Thrown off by the visitor’s question, I turned around and my eyes focused on the crab they were pointing to in the wall tank. It all made sense when I saw the graceful decorator crab scuttling along among the abalone, away from the sides of the tank, almost as if it knew it had been found. I jumped into educator mode right away, and answered, “That’s a great question.”

A (dirty?) graceful decorator crab (Oregonia Gracilis) hanging out

on the inflow of the small wall tank. Photo by Juhi LaFuente

The most wonderful aspect our Marine Exhibit is the chance to gain new knowledge about Salish Sea fish and invertebrates. When I first started at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, I knew very little about specific species of crabs. Aside from what I had learned in my college invertebrate zoology class, I hadn’t thought about them much. However, once I started feeding individual crabs, and interacting with them in tanks every day, they became one of my favorite animals in our Marine Exhibit. As a person who is recovering from a phobia of spiders and spider-adjacent creatures, it means a lot when I say that I think the way these arthropods walk around the tanks and move their little maxillipeds (mouth parts) is quite cute. I love inspiring others to see them the way I do now. So, when I explain how decorator crabs got their name, and see others’ eyes light up with fascination, it is a truly fulfilling experience. I hope I can light your eyes up, too.

Decorator crabs consist of many different species, all belonging to part of the superfamily Majoidea, known as spider crabs. We have many spider crabs in our exhibit, but not all are decorators. The decorator crab in question was the graceful decorator, Oregonia gracilis, a naturally abundant Puget Sound species. If you can spot them, graceful decorator crabs can be found in the small wall tank, against the back wall of the Marine Exhibit. In our huge piling tank, we have another type of decorator crab, called the longhorn, Chorilia longipes, which is usually hanging out against the tank walls, looking at the passers-by. These crabs’ natural ecosystem includes kelp forests and the intertidal zone, ranging from Alaska all the way down to Mexico, but they’re particularly abundant in the Pacific Northwest. In nature and in our tanks, the decorators are covered in foreign material (hence their dirty appearance) and found behind rocks and kelp, hiding from predators like fish, sea otters, and octopus.

Longhorn decorator crab (Chorilia longipes) hanging on the pilings. Photo by Wendy Feltham (Checkout our Instagram to see a video of this crab with a filter-feeding hitchhiker on its arm!)

The decorator crab namesake refers to the way they adorn their bodies with all kinds of ornaments. The decorations include almost any materials found in their environment. The crab’s hard outer shell, or exoskeleton, has tiny hooks all over called hooked setae. Hooked setae act as a sort of Velcro on which the crab can stick materials it picks up from its environment. Their adornments act as a camouflage, but also as a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship. The “materials” picked up by the crab can include some bryozoans, hydroids, algae, sponges, and small anemones. Invertebrates gain access to parts of the water column and food they wouldn’t usually have access to by hitching a ride on the back of the crab. In turn, the crab gets an easy disguise, and when resources are limited, also an easy source of food. If a crab finds an accessory like chemically-defended plants or stinging anemones, the crab is even less likely to be predated upon. Larger crabs need fewer decorations because they can defend themselves, but they’ll often still wind up with some hitchhikers on their backs.

The decorating doesn’t really stop after covering the exoskeleton canvas; a crab is always working. Crabs’ exoskeletons do not grow with them. As they outgrow their armor, they grow a new shell underneath the old, effectively forcing the old exoskeleton off. After disrobing, the crab will hide until its new exoskeleton hardens, and then the decorating process starts all over again. They often recycle old bits and pieces of material from their discarded shell (a great example of environmental stewardship!).  In captivity, decorator crabs have been known to disrobe and grow a new shell when moved to a different tank and new environment, effectively creating a blank slate for its new camouflage masterpiece.

A graceful decorator crab (Oregonia gracilis) waving at you through the acrylic. This crab is decorated in red algae. Photo by Wendy Feltham

Our decorator crabs at PTMSC interact with guests and staff all the time. In nature, humans and decorator crabs have very little direct interaction, although there are some negative human impacts on their ecosystems. Surface runoff of oil, pesticides, sewage, and other chemicals can contribute to pollution of ocean ecosystems, truly making the crabs’ environment “dirty.” (Runoff pollution contributes to larger issues like ocean acidification.) As environmental stewards, we can all make eco-friendlier choices to reduce negative impact on the Salish Sea. The crabs might thank you for that.

Next time you visit our Marine Exhibit, I hope you take the time to search the tanks for our decorator crabs. I hope you experience the revelation that the rock you were staring at underneath the kelp, barnacles, and sponges is actually a crab, as it slowly crawls away to munch on some food or find some new artistic materials. I also hope you become so enamored that you sound just as silly as I do when I have one-sided conversations with them through the acrylic. While cleaning or feeding, I compliment them on their attention to detail in design. I like to think they appreciate the compliments on their labor, because much like an environmental steward, a crab’s work is never done.

Find out how you can "Go Blue" to protect the crabs and become an environmental steward on our site! ptmsc.org/about/go-blue-initiative

Follow us on other platforms to see more cool crabs! Instagram (@ ptmarinescictr) Facebook (Port Townsend Marine Science Center) Newsletter (Octopress Online)

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BROOKE ASKEY is the Citizen Science Educator and AmeriCorps member serving at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center

Lonely Abalone Seeks Life Partner

Young Abalone
Photo by Wendy Feltham

When you walk into the Marine Exhibit, it is like entering a different world. I have always been fascinated with the sea and all it has to offer. Growing up on the coast of Maine I spent my summers exploring every tide pool I could find. I have carried this fascination throughout my life. The Marine Exhibit allows you to peek into the tide pool and underwater environment. It gives me the same excitement I found in those childhood summers. Next to the Marine Exhibit is the classroom, a space many students have sat waiting and wiggling, before entering this different realm. One day last week, I opened the door and let the students enter this magical land. Their faces lit up with such energy and huge smiles. I told my coworker that I felt like Willie Wonka opening the doors to the chocolate factory. This fascination is something that many people have when it comes to the marine world. All of the creatures and plant life are full of stories, facts, and memories for the staff, volunteers, and visitors in the Marine Exhibit. One invertebrate, in particular, holds a special place in the hearts of many at the Marine Science Center.

The Pinto, or Northern, Abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) is one of my favorite creatures in the Marine Exhibit here at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. The pinto abalone are marine snails found from Sitka, Alaska to Point Conception, California.  They are often referred to as, “the lonely abalone”. This name comes from the fact that their population is too small and spread out to reproduce successfully. Abalone use a reproductive strategy known as broadcast spawning that involves the male and female counterparts releasing eggs and sperm into the water. Abalone broadcast spawn between April and June. If successful reproduction occurs, the abalone will remain in a planktonic phase, floating in the ocean for 10-14 days before settling onto a rocky ocean floor.

As herbivores, pinto abalone scrape algae off rocks with their file-like tongue, known as a radula. As they grow larger they began to eat brown and red kelp;  whichever one they consume more of is reflected in the color of their shell.  Abalone have a number of predators, including sunflower stars, sea otters, some species of fish, and humans. To defend themselves, they use their muscular foot to stick to rocks and their shell as a shield. Abalone spend most of their time hidden among rocks.  As they grow, their shells become covered in a plethora of life, including algae and sponges, which makes for good camouflage. Since the 1990s, pinto abalone populations have declined more than 90% and they  have been a species of concern since 2004. The abalone population is in such great decline due to overharvesting. Although their foot is a delicacy , abalone fishing in Washington was outlawed in 1994. A great effort has been put into the restoration of pinto abalone in the Salish Sea.

In 2013, The Port Townsend Marine Science Center partnered with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund to help raise pinto abalone. We were  given 200 baby abalone,  no bigger than your thumbnail. One hundred of them were raised in a tank and the other half were raised in a structure resembling  a beehive that was submerged in water off of the dock.  Staff and volunteers took very special care of these young gastropods by feeding them three times a week and weighing and measuring them once a month.

Tagging the small abalone
Photo by Wendy Feltham

“The latter tasks weren’t always easy”, recalls volunteer and Board Member Wendy Feltham. The abalone would often stick to the surface they were being measured on and the only way to get them to move was by placing one of their predators close by. The sunflower star has a voracious appetite for pinto abalone. If you put a sunflower star in close proximity to the abalone they will let go of the surface they’re on. To help record data, some of the abalone were tagged.  The device used to tag them is the same one used to tag bees.

PTMSC volunteers Katherine Jensen and Sue Long with young abalone
Photo by Wendy Feltham

The Port Townsend Marine Science Center was able to keep twenty of these abalone for the Marine Exhibit. The other 180  were returned to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund facility. They were kept in tanks on site and eventually  returned to the Salish Sea. The Pinto Abalone is a unique creature, one that I was drawn to right away here at the Marine Science Center. They get so excited to eat with their tentacles waving in search of their green kelp goodies. Learning the story of the time spent to raise these invertebrates is one of the many ways the Port Townsend Marine Science continues to wow me. The work the Puget Sound Restoration Fund is doing to restore the pinto abalones’ populations is truly inspirational.

“It is still possible for us to keep an iconic and treasured species from blinking out—on our watch. Our goal at PSRF: to rebuild sustainable populations of the Salish Sea’s only native abalone—the mighty Haliotis kamtschatkana—so that, once again, pinto abalone can graze our subtidal waters and successfully reproduce in the wild.” -Puget Sound Restoration Fund. http://www.restorationfund.org/projects/pintoabalone

A present day abalone feeding
Photoby Brooke Askey

The pinto abalone are just one of the many amazing and fascinating creatures to be found in the Marine Exhibit. I look forward to continuing to be wowed  by the marine life which surrounds me here in the Salish Sea. I, too, feel like a kid in the chocolate factory when I enter the Marine Exhibit, both surprised and in awe of the fascinating underwater world.

Please consider making a gift today to support kids education, animals, and a healthy Salish Sea: ptmsc.org/get-involved/donate

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Sarah Croston is the Natural History and Volunteer Educator and an AmeriCorps member serving at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center.