The Whale Museum is pleased to welcome Shawn Larson as part of the 2015 Summer Lecture Series on Tuesday, July 14th at 6:30 p.m. Shawn will present her new book Sea Otter Conservation, discussing the sea otters unique biology and ecology and highlight its fascinating history with people.

Sea otters and people share the same nearshore Pacific ecosystem with documented interactions between the two dating back thousands of years starting with important relationships with native people, followed by the widespread serial extinctions during the fur trade, and culminating in over 100 years of conservation actions to ensure the survival of this iconic species.

Shawn has a PhD from the school of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington and has been working at the Seattle Aquarium for more than 20 years. She conducts conservation research on sea otters, sixgill sharks, Giant Pacific Octopus, rockfish and Hawaii fish. When she’s not at work, she enjoys sharing her small farm in Hansville with her two horses, nine chickens, one dog, two cats, two kids and one husband.

The lecture event is open to the public. For more info, call 378-4710 ext. 30. The museum is located in Friday Harbor at 62 First St.