Dear Tacoma practitioners (science-, policy-, technical-persons and generally interested persons): You are invited to join The Whale Museum’s 2026 Gear Up Workshop for Marine Naturalists The Whale Museum (TWM) is holding another exciting virtual Gear Up Workshop for Marine Naturalists this spring on Thursday, April 30. This workshop will be held from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Pacific Time and registrants will join sessions through the videoconferencing platform, *Zoom*. This workshop is open to everyone! The theme of this “Gear Up” Workshop will be *Caught Up: Fishery Interactions & Entanglement of Marine Mammals. *In recent years, there has been a lot of stories in the news regarding entangled humpback whales, orcas being caught as bycatch in Alaska, and other entangled marine mammal rescues. With an increase in local humpback whale numbers, this issue may become even more prevalent. In this workshop, we will discuss entanglement statistics, whale and pinniped entanglement response and training, fishery interactions with killer whales, technological innovations to reduce whale entanglements, and how you can help with this issue. Invited presenters include: - *Erin Casellas, Response Program Coordinator, The Whale Museum *on Marine Mammal Entanglement Response in the Salish Sea. - *Dr. Martin Haulena, Head Veterinarian & Director, Animal Health, Vancouver Aquarium *on pinniped entanglement and rescue. - *Cascadia Research Collective Staff* on WA/OR/CA whale entanglement rates and the West Coast Large Scale Entanglement Response Program. - *Emma Luck, Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow, Alaska Mariculture Alliance *on global fisheries interactions and killer whales. - *California Department of Fish and Wildlife Staff *on the Whale Safe Fisheries Project. The registration fee is $40 for non-members; $30 for TWM or SSAMN members. You can register at: https://whalemuseum.org/products/gear-up-virtual-workshop-2026?_pos=1&_sid=d5d9f74ca&_ss=r The Zoom link and workshop agenda will be sent to the email address provided at registration closer to the start of the workshop. Questions can be directed to Tracie Merrill at tracie@whalemuseum.org -- Sincerely, Tracie Tracie Merrill, TWM Education Director Please note: my normal work hours are 9-5 M-F.