The Whale Museum

Had a lot of fun here! Typically not too interested in museums since we are very much outdoorsy people, but with the weather we decided to give it a shot. Cost friendly, easy to navigate, and it was great to read up on the whales and research!

It was quite a small museum. When you enter, you are in the gift shop. From there you purchase admissions which I believe was $12 then head up the stairs to the museum. There were some interesting things to look at but I expected more. We spent about 20-30 minutes in the museum.

Fantastic... just fantastic! We visited Friday Harbor on a Sunday and walked the town. We were not sure what to do and the visitor guy recommended this spot. The adults had fun reading all the facts while the kiddos had fun seeing all the bones, size graphics and videos. The museum was just the right size to get a glimpse into the research of the whales of the San Juan islands as well as the right amount of respect and gratitude regarding the importance of caring for the Lords majestic creation. They have a beautiful book from a local photographer highlighting all the life of the San Juan islands, the perfect souvenir to share this beautiful place with friends and family back home!

So...I for a tourist attraction $10 for adults and $5 for kids isn't a lot but it wasn't worth it. Took less than 30 min to run through. Tried watching old videos on a tiny screen downstairs about a whale rescue but it just wasn't good. Upstairs was a bit better but the most fascinating thing was the skeleton of the conjoined twin seal lions. Friday Harbor is such a beautiful place so it's not worth the visit for us.

Must visit - if you go to one place in Friday Harbor, this should be it. Such an important place. VERY interesting, with lots of amazing exhibits. They do incredible research in the field, too. I'm not affiliated, but I would strongly encourage anyone to visit and support the important work.

This is my second visit.
I learned about Springer, a lost young orca that was rescued and returned to its family pod. Sweet.
And the documentary film SONIC SEA was a shocking revelation of how the noise from ships' engines propellers & sonar can kill sealife. Oil exploration using explosives kills
Every living thing. Sad. Preventable.

You know... I'm just going to be honest...I get what they want to do, and I realize this is more of a working research exhibit... but a lot of the information is outdated and expressed too formally. I feel like there has to be more grants out there to help them reach their goals better than charging $10/ person... this is a 30-minute kind of exhibit considering the exhibit space and dated videos. $5 would be a fair price for everyone... the only interesting thing here was the conjoined twin harbor seals... that's worth $5 at any circus side show! I'm glad my money will help further research in the future...I just hope it helps improve the interactivity of this museum so that it becomes exciting and engaging!

Admission was $9, & we spent an hour here. We could adopt an orca as well, they have been on the endangered list since 2005. A lot of whale information pics, videos, totems, hands-on interactive exhibits & even calls & sounds of orcas. Discovered that orcas are baleen whales have baleen instead of teeth which they use to collect shrimp-like krill, plankton & small fish from the sea. These bristly baleen plates filter, sift, sieve or trap the whales' prey from seawater inside their mouths. Baleen is made out of keratin, the same protein that makes up our fingernails and hair. Yes, it was here to see and touch.

We exited through a colorful gift shop. Lots of tee shirts, books, photographs, trinkets ....

Though there were many whale tooths on display, I would say that the museum overall is very long in the tooth.

Everything is in desperate need of an update. The displays are looking old and shabby but worst of all the information needs updating. There was lots of sad news here but nothing about the biggest success story of all...the humpbacks have returned to the Salish Sea in ever growing numbers! I think I heard that there are now over 800 of them in the summer months. Up from zero!!! Yes, they had totally decimated a vibrant humpback population down to zero but through conservation efforts that started back in the '60s, the humpbacks have returned!

I would also like to see more innovative and interactive displays especially for the kiddos!

My friends and I were visiting Friday Harbor, and on the top of our list was The Whale Museum. We are very interested in marine mammal conservation and heard about the mission of the Museum: not only to curate and display artifacts related to whales in the Salish Sea area, but also education and research to promote the growth and sustainability of the ecosystem.

The Museum itself is in a lovely historic building in downtown Friday Harbor; it covers two floors and can easily be toured within 90 minutes to 2 hours. There's a swell little gift shop on the ground floor, and you'll have the opportunity to Adopt an Orca-how cool!

Special thanks to Casey in the gift shop/admission area; we spoke with her when we arrived about our love of whales and desire to do some whale-watching while we were on San Juan Island. As we finished our tour of the museum, she found us and let us know that there was a group of orcas sighted off Lime Kiln Point, and we were able to dash across the island and catch several sightings of the last three members of the group! It was a great start to our whale-watching adventures! We really appreciate Casey taking the time and effort to find us and let us know the whales were there. It made our day!

We're so grateful for the work of the Whale Museum and will spread the word: The Museum is the best first stop for any visit to the islands!