Less King Kong, More Good Neighbor

Less King Kong, More Good Neighbor

Every low tide I am seized by conflicting emotions of joyful anticipation and looming dread. I am excited by the prospect of entering the temporarily drained and accessible octopuses’ gardens—to walk among the sea pens I can usually only discern in a watery blur from...
Summer 2019: thank you community science volunteers!

Summer 2019: thank you community science volunteers!

By: Bianca Perla “Is it not possible that a place could have huge affection for those who dwell there? Perhaps your place loves having you there. It misses you when you are away and in its secret way rejoices when you return. Could it be possible that a landscape...
Volunteer Power! Island Team Creates Model Program

Volunteer Power! Island Team Creates Model Program

Recent news of ailing orcas is stirring a sense of urgency around the health of our favorite whales and underscores their reliance on thriving salmon populations, which depend on the smaller and aptly named forage fish, like surf smelt and sand lance. For the past...
VNC Co-Hosts Island Biodiversity Web Summit

VNC Co-Hosts Island Biodiversity Web Summit

Possibly for the first time in history, islanders from the entire length of the Salish Sea met to make conservation connections and discuss ways to champion biodiversity. The Vashon Nature Center crew loaded into the VNC Science Adventure Lab (AKA: Bianca’s VW van)...
Fin whale on Vashon

Fin whale on Vashon

by: Bianca Perla, featured photo above by Kelly Keenan. Have you ever touched whale skin? It’s slippery and firm like the smooth skin of a wet apple. Have you had the chance to stand and look down into a whale’s gaping mouth? The lines of stiff baleen fray open to...