The Whale Museum opens registration for the 2026 Virtual Gear Up Workshop

||| FROM TRACIE MERRELL for THE WHALE MUSEUM |||

The Whale Museum has opened registration for the 2026 Gear Up Workshop! This year’s workshop will take place virtually on Thursday, April 30 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and will prepare participants for the field season ahead. This event is open to the public, so anyone with any interest or knowledge level is encouraged to register.

The workshop’s theme is: “Caught Up: Fishery Interactions & Entanglement of Marine Mammals.” In recent years, there have been a lot of stories in the news regarding entangled humpback whales, orcas being caught as bycatch in Alaska, and other entangled marine mammal rescues. With an increase in local humpback whale numbers, this issue may become even more prevalent.

The workshop will discuss entanglement statistics, whale and pinniped disentanglement rescues and training, fishery interactions with killer whales, technological innovations to reduce whale entanglements, and how individuals can help with this issue.

The workshop will host several experts to discuss fisheries and entanglements, including:

• Erin Casellas, Response Program Coordinator, The Whale Museum on Marine Mammal Entanglement Response in the Salish Sea.
• Dr. Martin Haulena, Head Veterinarian & Director, Animal Health, Vancouver Aquarium on pinniped entanglement
  and rescue.
• Cascadia Research Collective Staff on WA/OR/CA whale entanglement rates and the West Coast Large Scale
  Entanglement Response Program.
• Emma Luck, Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow, Alaska Mariculture Alliance on global fisheries interactions and killer
  whales.
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife Staff on the Whale Safe Fisheries Project.

General registration for the workshop is $40, with discounts available for members of The Whale Museum or the Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists. A recording will be made available to registrants who cannot make the live time. To learn more or register, visit whalemuseum.org.