Education
Visit! Do! Learn!. The Exhibit Center offers informational and interactive exhibits offering a learning experience for all ages about the ecology, geology, plants and animals of wetlands.
Educational Field Trips to Theler. Theler Wetlands offers the perfect opportunity to reinforce classroom instruction with field experience. Live bugs, birds, critters and plants in their natural surrounds. Please contact Theler Center’s Manager and let us help you coordinate a safe and happy experience for your students. Call us at 360-275-4898 or email theler@hctc.com
Gray Whale project.
North Mason Progress, 2005: The story of the Theler Wetlands whale skeleton began over five years ago when, on April 29, 1999 a 2-year-old gray whale washed ashore near Belfair State Park. The 27-foot-long whale died of unknown causes, but Belfair residents recalled seeing a group of three whales cruising the canal several days prior.
Volunteers from Theler Center, Belfair State Park and the North Mason community saw the whale's arrival as a great educational opportunity. With permission from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and help from local volunteers, the whale carcass was moved from the state park to the shore at Lynch Cove, where it was buried and allowed to decompose. After two years, the long, arduous process of cleaning and reconstructing the skeleton for an education display began.
The first step was an archeological dig at the burial site. Volunteers painstakingly numbered and documented the positions of all the bones after the dig and moved the skeleton to a nearby barn where it could dry. The bones were cleaned and sealed.
Latex molds were then made of each bone. These molds will enable the construction of a lightweight replica of the skeleton for a separate hands-on exhibit at the Mary E. Theler Community Center. The replica will also be available to schools and organizations who want to reconstruct the bones and learn about the anatomy of the whale.
On June 26, 2004 the newly articulated whale skeleton was placed on display at the Theler Wetlands. Weighing nearly 700 pounds, it is quite a sight to see. An interpretive display featuring educational information about gray whales, including an interactive baleen exhibit, is currently in the works.
Nov. 2004: Theler Wetlands held a special ceremony dedicating and blessing the remains of a gray whale that turned up on a Hood Canal beach over five years ago. The skeletal remains of the juvenile whale now hang in the breezeway of the Mary E. Theler Exhibit Building and a North Mason High School classroom at the site. Bruce Miller, with Michael Pavel and other members of the Skokomish Indian Nation, led the rites.
North Mason Progress, 2005: The story of the Theler Wetlands whale skeleton began over five years ago when, on April 29, 1999 a 2-year-old gray whale washed ashore near Belfair State Park. The 27-foot-long whale died of unknown causes, but Belfair residents recalled seeing a group of three whales cruising the canal several days prior.
Volunteers from Theler Center, Belfair State Park and the North Mason community saw the whale's arrival as a great educational opportunity. With permission from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and help from local volunteers, the whale carcass was moved from the state park to the shore at Lynch Cove, where it was buried and allowed to decompose. After two years, the long, arduous process of cleaning and reconstructing the skeleton for an education display began.
The first step was an archeological dig at the burial site. Volunteers painstakingly numbered and documented the positions of all the bones after the dig and moved the skeleton to a nearby barn where it could dry. The bones were cleaned and sealed.
Latex molds were then made of each bone. These molds will enable the construction of a lightweight replica of the skeleton for a separate hands-on exhibit at the Mary E. Theler Community Center. The replica will also be available to schools and organizations who want to reconstruct the bones and learn about the anatomy of the whale.
On June 26, 2004 the newly articulated whale skeleton was placed on display at the Theler Wetlands. Weighing nearly 700 pounds, it is quite a sight to see. An interpretive display featuring educational information about gray whales, including an interactive baleen exhibit, is currently in the works.
Nov. 2004: Theler Wetlands held a special ceremony dedicating and blessing the remains of a gray whale that turned up on a Hood Canal beach over five years ago. The skeletal remains of the juvenile whale now hang in the breezeway of the Mary E. Theler Exhibit Building and a North Mason High School classroom at the site. Bruce Miller, with Michael Pavel and other members of the Skokomish Indian Nation, led the rites.
