01/17/2007: "Whale Museum Offers Marine Naturalist Training"

Registration for Marine Naturalist Training Program, presented by The Whale Museum will begin on January 23. Sessions will take place on five Saturdays and one Sunday beginning April 7, ending on Sunday, May 6.

The object of this popular program is to provide a learning experience that assists adult graduates to be qualified regionally as professional or volunteer naturalists. Certification is an option with a five-hour practicum. Continuing education credits and teacher clock hours are also available.

The course provide an overview of the natural history of The Salish Sea, the inland marine waters between Vancouver Island and the mainlands of Washington State and Southern British Columbia. The ecology and conservation of local marine species is a main focus of the training. Interpretive field techniques are developed in the areas of marine mammals, fishes, seabirds, intertidal ecology, geology, native plants, and the human history of the islands.

Information is presented during classroom instruction and field trips around San Juan Island. Each Saturday session runs from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Instructors include Dr. Joe Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society and Dr. Rich Osborne of The Whale Museum. Additional faculty includes professional naturalists, marine scientists and environmental educators active in the region.

Tuition is $350 and includes an orca adoption. There are no prerequisites other than high school graduation and a sincere interest to learn.

For more information or to receive your registration forms on or after January 23, please call Marcy Kober, Education Curator at 378-4710 extension 23 or email marcy@whalemuseum.org.