Whalefest Monterey 2017

​WHALEFEST MONTEREY 2017 
JANUARY 28TH & 29TH
(Saturday & Sunday)
10 AM TO 5 PM 

​Old Fisherman's Wharf
Monterey, California

Weather forecast is beautiful for the weekend of Whalefest.

Whalefest Monterey 2017 is free! It is a fun and educational, interactive family event for all ages celebrating the migration of the gray whales! Enjoy a wide array of ocean related activities. The event hosts many local and national marine organizations that educate, inspire, and empower the public to protect the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Among the highlights at Whalefest 2017 is the symposium with exciting presentations and documentaries related to ocean and marine life conservation presented at the Dali17/Museum of Monterey - Stanton Center, 5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey, California - Saturday & Sunday from 10:30 AM to 5 PM (free admission to the symposium).

Symposium

Presentation by Peggy Stap, Co-Founder of the Whale Entanglement Team (WET)® and Executive Director of Marine Life Studies, Saturday, January 28 at 2:30 PM. Learn new updates of whales entangled in 2016, changes to help mitigate entanglements, and special presentation of four children inspired to create an innovative solution to help entangled whales for the FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) Lego League. They are 1 of 100 teams to advance to the World Championship (out of 29,000 teams).

 Speakers include Jeremy Goldbogen (Hopkins Marine Station), Paul Michel (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary), Tim Thomas (Historian), Bill Gilly (Stanford), Dan Costa (UC Santa Cruz), Dave Jessup (CA Wildlife Veterinarian), Ted Cheeseman (Happywhale), Mark McLaughlin (Kleen Globe), Lisa Emanuelson (Monterey Bay National Sanctuary), and Art Seavey (Monterey Abalone). MC is Steve Ellzey (KRML).

Whalefest Symposium Schedule - Click here
Whalefest Symposium Program Synopses - Click here
Whalefest Symposium Speaker Biographies - Click here

The two-day event will feature a wide array of fun and informative activities. New this year is "Dee" created by Save The Whales. Dee is a 43-foot life-size inflatable humpback whale. Children and adults can go inside and see the ribs, heart, lungs, baleen, stomach, and esophagus of this incredible creature. Click here for more activities and information.

Mock Whale Disentanglement Demonstration

How do you free a 40-ton whale? Mock demonstration of how trained professionals 
of the Whale Entanglement Team (WET)® free a whale from life-threatening entanglements.  
Try your hand at disentangling a whale. Meet members of WET®.

Mock Whale Disentanglement demonstration on Saturday, January 28th and Sunday, January 29th. 

​Learning for All Ages - Interactive Diplays
Try identifying individual humpback whales and orcas from their markings

You can touch baleen from a blue whale, see a vertebra of a fin whale, hold the bone from a gray whale, and stare into the eyes of krill.

Robot demo (Saturday only) by Operation T.A.C.

Whalefest Community Beach & Bike Path Cleanup - Sunday, Jan. 29 - 11 AM

Marine Life Studies' Take It To The StreetsTM is partnering with Save Our Shores and Surfrider for
Whalefest's Community Cleanup. Come join the fun and make a difference!

Meet at 11 am Sunday, January 29th next to the Whale Entanglement Team demonstration booth on Plaza between Fisherman's Wharf and the Stanton Center. Look for the sign that says "Meet Here".

Marine Life Studies provides all necessary supplies for cleanup including buckets, grabbers, safety vests, and gloves.

Stop trash from entering the ocean! Stop by our booth to learn more about Take It To The StreetsTM
and Marine Life Studies. Stop by Save Our Shores to learn more about their programs.

Click here for more activites at Whalefest.

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Monterey Bay is the Whale Watching Capital of the WorldTM so be sure to go whale watching this weekend as trips will be running during Whalefest for a fee.

•  Chris' Whale Watching
•  Randy's Whale Watching
•  Monterey Bay Whale Watch
•  Princess Monterey Whale Watching

Whalefest Sponsors