Get ready for long days of exploring your local Salish Sea!
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A surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) swimming near the pier in downtown Port Townsend.
Photo by PTMSC Volunteer Wendy Feltham
Octopress Online May 2024
SUMMER EXHIBIT HOURS!
Beginning Friday, May 24:
The Museum and Aquarium at Fort Worden will be OPEN Thursdays - Mondays from Noon - 5:00 p.m.
photo credit: Ali Redman/PTMSC
SUMMER CAMPS
Spaces still OPEN-- but DON'T WAIT. Registration is FILLING UP!
Join us for a wet, sandy, adventurous, fun-filled week! Campers will spend their days exploring beaches, uncovering treasures hidden in our exhibits, playing games, making crafts, and hiking through beautiful Fort Worden State Park, all while learning to be stewards of the marine environment. Older campers take their marine biology skills to the next level through hands-on activities and scientific investigation. Camps are offered for ages 6 - 14.
A workspace and exhibit exploring the lost art of Repair
Now available at the Downtown Gallery
Friday, April 26 – early July, 2024
Open Fridays – Sundays 12:00 – 3:00 p.m.
photo credit: Andrew Whiteman
Learn about the global movement to help transform our throwaway culture and how PTMSC’s JeffCo Repair can help build your skills, strengthen community, save money, keep our excess of material goods out of landfills and oceans, and more.
The exhibit/workspace was developed to showcase the work of JeffCo Repair and the many local volunteers committed to Protecting our Seas, Empowering People & Building Community.
Join us for this free community gathering in which people with repair skills share their time and talents to fix their neighbors’ belongings. Bring your toaster that no longer toasts, sweater with a hole in the elbow, and excitement to get these belongings repaired while also learning how they did it and ways you could do it yourself next time!
At this Repair Event, we will have volunteers helping with:
small appliances/electronics
sewing/knitting
tool sharpening
bicycle repair
simple jewelry
other household items
and basic tech support (along with assistance with general computer skills)
Nearly 70 percent of the nesting seabird population of Puget Sound and the Straits nest at these two islands, just outside of Port Townsend, including one of the largest nesting colonies of rhinoceros auklets in the world, as well as the largest nesting colony of glaucous-winged gulls in Washington. Protection Island contains one of the last 2 nesting colonies of tufted puffins in the Puget Sound area. About 1,000 harbor seals rely upon the island for a pupping and rest area.
These cruises are hosted by seasoned PTMSC naturalists and interpreters, who provide excellent commentary on the natural history of the island and the birds and wildlife sighted. Sign up for a cruise today!
Join us for a guided walk on the beach at low tide with PTMSC naturalists, and witness the unique adaptations for life to survive and thrive in the intertidal zone.
Saturday, May 25 at 11:00 a.m. (-2.5 ft. @ 11:50 a.m.)
Saturday, June 8 at 11:00 a.m. (-2.7 ft. @ 11:48 a.m.)
Sunday, June 23 at 11:00 a.m. (-3.1 ft. @ 11:34 a.m.)
Friday, July 5 at 9:30 a.m. (-2.7 ft. @ 10:09 a.m.)
Sunday, July 21 at 10:00 a.m. (-2.93 ft. @ 10:35 a.m.)
Saturday, August 3 at 9:30 a.m. (-1.66 ft. @ 9:59 a.m.)
Sunday, August 18 at 9:00 a.m. (-2.13 ft. @ 9:31 a.m.)
Join Fort Worden State Park and partners for the 2024 BioBlitz!
photo credit: Betsy Carlson / PTMSC
Saturday, June 8
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fort Worden Kitchen Shelter
Help us document the wild at Fort Worden State Park! By uncovering the diverse range of life within the park, we can gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for its ecology. Bring a camera or smartphone to take pictures of plants, wildlife, and other organisms that live in the park, then upload them to iNaturalist.
When Port Townsend Marine Science Center volunteer Rene Cortez moved to Port Townsend in 2021, he brought with him a passion for volunteering and a vital interest in marine conservation.
Like many a newcomer to town, Cortez jumped right into the volunteer scene here in Port Townsend when he and his wife Diane, moved from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Cortez attended a volunteer orientation and a docent training session, and he has been a reliable and enthusiastic docent for three years now, recording 300 hours of service to PTMSC’s mission.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with us, read on!
VOLUNTEER INTEREST MEETING
Tuesday, May 14
4 - 6 p.m.
Fort Worden Museum Classroom, across from the pier
Come learn about the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, our mission, and the volunteer opportunities we offer!
Current opportunities for volunteers include:
Museum greeters and docents
Aquarium greeters and docents*
Low tide walk interpreters
Intertidal monitoring surveys on July 22 and 23
The interest meeting will include information about all the roles currently available for volunteers, and will include a tour of the aquarium at Fort Worden.
People with science backgrounds, customer service, or teaching experience are encouraged to attend, but all with an interest in Salish Sea conservation are welcome. Thorough training is offered by the PTMSC to all who wish to volunteer.
*If you would like to be an Aquarium or Museum docent, please attend this event as well as the following week’s docent training, on May 21, 3:00 – 5:30 p.m.
For over 40 years the Port Townsend Marine Science Center has actively participated in citizen science, providing volunteers, staff, AmeriCorps and visitors an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to science.
Read the reportas we share what our volunteers, AmeriCorps, staff and partner organizations have accomplished in support of the conservation of the Salish Sea in 2023!
The Exhibits and Outreach Specialist is responsible for working collaboratively with the PTMSC staff to provide high-quality visitor experiences for the public in our Museum and Aquarium exhibits through greeting, exhibit interpretation, and facilitating hands-on experiences for all.
PTMSC gift cards are now available! Purchase gift cards for your family and friends, in any amount you
choose, ($5 minimum.) Gift cards are available in the Museum gift shop and the downtown Store. Once redeemed, they can be refilled, or turned in at either location to be used as an algae scraper in the Aquarium!
DONATE YOUR VEHICLE
through C.A.R.S. and help out PTMSC!
Ready to get rid of an old car while supporting a cleaner planet? We here at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center make charitable car donation so easy! It also feels better when you support the cause you love.
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PTMSC GIFT CARDS
