The 13th annual Sitka Whalefest was a success! Dave and I set up a table at the public market and got a good response from the community. We met a lot of new people and talked a great deal about Discovery Southeast. The local kids enjoyed our display of various animal skulls and furs. As for the rest of Whalefest, there were a variety of speakers from around the country. The topics ranged from Arctic mammals to the influenza virus in the marine environment. The symposium was attended by the public and many UAS students. There was even a group of students from the university in Hilo, Hawaii! My favorite lecture of the weekend was given by Eric Regehr of Fish and Wildlife in Anchorage. He has been actively involved in Polar Bear research and what climate change will do to the species. He talked a lot about the bears in the Chukchi region although he did know a lot about other populations around the world. I learned a lot from the symposium at Whalefest and was updated on the current research that is being done in the marine environments of Alaska. The weekend concluded with a beautiful ferry ride on Sunday afternoon. There was blue sky and the mountains were an amazing sight. We really are lucky to live in such a unique place!