Whalefest Monterey 2018

WHALEFEST MONTEREY 2018 
JANUARY 27TH & 28TH
(Saturday & Sunday)10 AM TO 5 PM 

Old Fisherman's Wharf
Monterey, California

Weather forecast is beautiful for the weekend of Whalefest.

​Whalefest Monterey 2018 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 2018 is the symposium with exciting presentations and documentaries related to ocean and marine life conservation presented at the Wharf Theatre - Old Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California - Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5 PM (free admission to the symposium).

Click here for Whalefest Interview with Peggy Stap on YourTown TV - with host Mark Baer

Symposium

Saturday, January 27 at 3:00 PM: Presentation by Peggy Stap, Co-Founder of the Whale Entanglement Team (WET)® and Executive Director of Marine Life Studies: 

"Saving Whales from Life-threatening Entanglements" - Learn new updates of whales entangled in 2017 and changes to help mitigate entanglements. The number of entangled whales reported in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and statewide has increased significantly. WET® was founded by Peggy Stap along with Mary Whitney, Founding Director of Fluke Foundation. Learn how this highly trained team uses specialized equipment to rescue whales from a slow, painful death due to life-threatening entanglements as Stap chronicles some recent rescues. The work is conducted under the authority of the Endangered Species Act/Marine Mammal Protection Act permit issued to the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.

Speakers include Elan Portner (Hopkins Marine Station), Paul Michel (Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary), Greg Cailliet (Moss Landing Marine Lab), Adam Ratner (The Marine Mammal Center), Anne Warner (Think Beyond Plastic), Benyamin Rosental (Stanford), John Ryan (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) and John Joseph (Naval Post Graduate School), Alison Haupt (CSUMB), John Pearse (UCSC), Heirs To Our Oceans, and Steve Shimek (The Otter Project). MC is Steve Ellzey (KION).

Whalefest Symposium Schedule - Click here

The two-day event will feature a wide array of fun and informative activities. Back at Whalefest is: "Dee", 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 27th and Sunday, January 28th. 

Learning for All Ages - Interactive DiplaysTry 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.

Whalefest Community Beach & Bike Path Cleanup - Sunday, Jan. 28 - 11 AM

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

Meet at 11 am Sunday, January 28th next to Marine Life Studies' Whale Entanglement Team demonstration booth on the Plaza between Fisherman's Wharf and the Stanton Center. Look for the sign that says "Meet Here at Marine Life Studies booth for Street and Beach Cleanup".

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. 

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
•  Discovery Whale Watch 
•  Monterey Bay Whale Watch
•  Princess Monterey Whale Watching

Whalefest Sponsors