First Wednesdays Are Now Ocean Night at Sea View

Wednesday, November 7, 7 p.m., Sea View Theatre

— Justin Cox for SeaDoc Society —

For years, the SeaDoc Society has hosted series of monthly science talks during the winter months on Orcas Island. This year, they’re putting an exciting spin on the series, which will now be called Ocean Night – a free, family-friendly event at the Sea View Theatre on the first Wednesday of every month, starting at 7 p.m.

Adam Summers

The debut event will be Wednesday, November 7 and will feature Dr. Adam Summers of the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, who was also a science advisor on the Pixar film, Finding Nemo.

His presentation is called “Fantastic Fishes: Fact, Fiction and Finding Nemo,” and in it he will break down the movements and behaviors of several species from the animated classic. Summers was approached by Pixar Studios in the early 2000s and spent three years advising the animators who brought Nemo’s underwater world to life.

Summers will also explore some of the incredible fish that live right here in the Salish Sea. Video and multimedia will be a staple of all Ocean Night events, including this one, which will feature several clips from Nemo as well as slow-motion footage of real fish from the Salish Sea, with Summers offering live scientific narration about their movement and behavior.

Summers moved his laboratory from University of California, Berkeley to the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories in 2009, where he assumed the role of Associate Director. With students and collaborators, he has published more than 70 articles in scientific journals on subjects including the heads of hammerhead sharks, the properties of skeletons and difficulties of eating hard prey. He continues to teach an intensive graduate course in the biomechanics of fishes at Friday Harbor Labs.

Ocean Night is free and food and drinks will be available for purchase at the Sea View snack bar. Doors and concessions open at 6:30 p.m. and the talk starts at 7. The event is presented by SeaDoc Society and sponsored by Camp Orkila, Dean and Audrey Stupke, Jim and Karen Youngren, West Sound Marina, The Averna Family (Deer Harbor Charters), Madrona Bar and Grill.