SeaWolf Coastal Protection’s directors have long believed that advocating for environmental protection is a value that we must encourage in our next generation of environmental stewards.  We also believe that young female students should be encouraged to pursue the sciences and research fields, since a large number of promising female students tend to avoid that area of study for undetermined reasons.  

In keeping with these philosophies, one of our directors took action on the issue.  In 2001, SeaWolf’s volunteer southwest advisor Patricia Woodfin, a school advocate from Flower Mound, Texas, raised the idea of starting a week-long educational program for young adults on-site in the San Juan Islands. After developing a prototype 1-day program in association with Tulalip Tribes students from Tulalip Elementary School in Marysville, Washington in 2000, SeaWolf director Michael Kundu worked with Woodfin to launch our first, extended week-long program, entirely sponsored by private donations, for a group of Texas students from our southwest coordinator’s home town.

Initially christened ‘OrcaQuest Expeditions’ we have, at present, conducted six separate summer expeditions, and are in the process of planning our seventh session in June of 2009. One major change in the program occurred n the summer of 2002, when we started using the program title ‘Orca Seeker’ in order to eliminate confusion with an existing program offered by another regional non-profit society. Through the support of a local foundation in Everett, Washington, our session in 2005 also included four Snohomish County, Washington students.  

Our current OrcaQuest/Orca Seeker curriculum involves a week-long, in-situ camp for students aged 12 to 17-years, and is located on San Juan and Orcas Islands in Washington State. Students are exposed to a rigourous academic program of science lectures, coastal conservation workshops, charter whale-watch expeditions, lectures from Native elders, museum trips, kayak tours and even (for the certified divers), scuba dives and snorkeling sessions in prime orca whale habitat. 

Programs are delivered by SeaWolf volunteers, along with actual scientists and researchers studying the whales and coastal ecosystems in Washington State and British Columbia waters.  SeaWolf obtains voluntary contributions of time from many of these researchers, and other corporate donations or contributions cover the hard costs associated with charter operations, lodging and all travel from Texas and mainland Washington.

Volunteers for all of our recent youth programs such as Orca Seekers, along with a second prototype 5-day kayaking expedition called ‘Northern Venture’ (started in 2002, when the first trip involved kids aged between 6-years to 14-years), incorporated certified teachers as part of the volunteer teams. During our past programs, the professional educators were additional chaperones on these trips and helped to develop and refine the academic curriculum, so that sound educational processes were incorporated into the expeditions. Evening fireside lectures and presentations were common at all events.

Since the inception of the Orca Seekers program, SeaWolf has sent 93 kids through the program. Some of these students have since entered courses of university study in biology with the intention of pursuing post-graduate degrees in environmental and/or marine biology and ecology.  (Please click on the following names to read testimonies from three of our participants, Alicia C., Ataya H., or Krista S.) 

Today, we call the program ‘SeaWolf Educational Adventures’, and the program remains administered by advisor Pat Woodfin. This program continues to evolve, and in our goal is to create a generation of aware and environmentally responsible youth leaders, who may continue their education tracks to pursue careers in the sciences and in other leadership fields that will benefit environmental conservation initiatives.