Fins and Feathers

Featuring the Salish Sea's Killer Whales

Presentation by Jenny Atkinson, Monday, July 26th at 7PM (ET)

Register here for this free virtual event

There is no sound quite like the exhalation of a five ton orca, surfacing just off shore, all six feet of ink-black dorsal fin slicing the water for a perfect moment, before disappearing back into the depths of the Salish Sea. Jenny Atkinson has had many of these moments in her time as Executive Director of The Whale Museum in the San Juan Islands, and she is on first name basis with each of the region's 74 orcas, known collectively as the Southern Resident Killer Whales.

Orcas can be found in every ocean in the world, with subspecies specializing in diet, language, and color patterning. The Southern Residents specialize in chinook (king) salmon, a keystone species that also supports bald eagles, osprey, sea lions, seals, bears, and so many more. All of these species share a common threat in the decline of chinook salmon numbers, and Jenny will guide us through the feathered and finned characters in this ecosystem, and how chinook is the sustaining link between them all.

Jenny's mission, and the mission of The Whale Museum, is to promote stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research - which the museum has been doing since 1979 as the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to a species living in the wild.

Originally from the south, Jenny has had a life-long interest in connecting people with nature and wildlife through photography, and has been an avid birder since childhood. After vacationing in the San Juan Islands for more than a decade, she moved there in 2007 to run the museum. Jenny spent time working for the First Amendment Center in Nashville, and continues to use her First Amendment right to be a voice for the voiceless, our orcas! 

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This live event is limited to 1,000 attendees but a recording will be available for replay.

This program is brought to you by the Wild Bird Fund Membership Committee