Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
In-Person at WWU:
Academic West 204
Price:
Free
Brought to you by:
College of the Environment, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
In 2002 a young orca named Springer was discovered near Seattle - lost, alone and 300 miles away from home. Six months later she was rescued, rehabilitated and returned to her pod on the north end of Vancouver Island. Today she is thriving, with two calves of her own. It's the only successful orca reintroduction in history!
Donna Sandstrom will share the inspiring story of Springer's rescue, and how it led her to found The Whale Trail. Learn about current initiatives to protect the endangered southern resident orcas and how you can participate in their recovery.
The Environmental Speaker Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30pm in Academic Instructional Center West, room 204. Join us at WWU or online on Zoom!
Featuring:
Donna Sandstorm, Speaker
Donna Sandstrom is the Founder and Executive Director of The Whale Trail, a west coast-wide series of sites to watch whales from shore. In 2002 she was a community organizer on the successful effort to return Springer, an orphaned orca, to her pod. Donna recently served as a member of Gov. Jay Inslee's Orca Recovery Task Force, where she championed solutions to reduce noise and disturbance around the endangered southern resident orcas. Prior to founding The Whale Trail, she was a team and project manager at Adobe Systems.
Donna is the author of Orca Rescue! The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer (Kids Can Press 2021) which was honored as Best Children's Book 2022 by the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada, and as a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She lives in West Seattle.
Accommodations and Other Details
Contact The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for this event if you have questions or need disability accommodations by calling (360) 650-3353 or emailing Alumni@wwu.edu.
Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is greatly appreciated. Please indicate your special needs on the registration form. There will be auto-captions available for the Zoom webinar.
Limited paid parking is available in the C lots at the south end of campus and in lots 6V and 7G at the north end of campus. Western provides comprehensive parking details—including lot locations, applicable fees, and campus map. Please note that parking in the C lot and 12A by Fairhaven College is free after 4:30pm on weekdays and all hours on weekends.
The views expressed by our speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.
Photo credit: J56 (Tofino) with her mother J31 (Tsuchi), by Mark Sears, Permit 21348.