Monterey Bay Marine Life Studies

09/18/2026

URGENT 9/18/26 - Due to the fire at the power plant currently, we are not opening the benefit gift shop today to keep our staff and volunteers safe. Our team, facility, and research vessel are safe. Thank you to those who have reached out to us. It’s unfortunate that we have to go all through this again. We’ll keep you updated as we find out more. In the meantime, please stay safe and avoid the Moss Landing area. Video credit: Hillary Thomas, supporter of Marine Life Studies

09/12/2026

September 12, 2026 from 1-4pm - Open House. Come through for some snacks, raffle, silent auction, and live music!

09/02/2026

Saturday, September 12, 2026 from 1-4pm we are celebrating our 20 year anniversary at our Monterey Bay Whale and Ocean Center! Join us as we celebrate two incredible decades of protecting whales, the ocean, and inspiring future generations. We’ll have a raffle, silent auction, and live music by The Towne Dandies featuring Geoff Ellsworth. Tour our facility, meet our team, learn about our work, and enjoy an afternoon of community, celebration, and ocean inspiration.

07/26/2026

Come out to the Moss Landing Street Fair today, Sunday July 26, 2026 from 8am - 3:30pm. We are located on Moss Landing Road. There are over 100 vendors and our Benefit Gift Shop is open! We also have a ton of freebies in our hallway!

07/25/2026

07/24/2026

Duchess of Anchovy is free!
It truly takes a community to save a whale. After Monterey Bay's dedicated whale watching fleet discovered and monitored Duchess with rope wrapped around her tail, Marine Life Studies responders worked with the Large Whale Entanglement Response Network to safely tag her and remove all of the entangling gear. This rescue was especially rewarding because it was one of the first whale disentanglements led from beginning to end by our local Monterey Bay team—a milestone made possible through collaboration, training, and years of preparation. Click the thumbnail to read more about the rescue. If you'd like to donate to our cause, please go to https://bit.ly/MLSdonate

Marine Life Studies team uses insight to locate and cut the whale free.

07/24/2026

We’ll be there - we have a community booth and our Benefit Gift Shop will be open at 8142 Moss Landing Road! Come out on this beautiful Sunday! We’ll have some freebies in the shop, so come down and say hi!

06/27/2026

We are here at Monterey Pride until 3pm today! Custom House Plaza in Monterey.

06/26/2026

We’ll be at Monterey Pride tomorrow (6/27) at Custom House Plaza in Monterey from 10am to 3pm! We have a booth and will be marching in the parade on Alvarado Street from 11am to 12pm! We’ll have so many cool whale things including handmade crochet whales and wind spinners by Saber Company !

06/23/2026

Marine Life Studies announces Dr. Julia O'Hern as Senior Cetacean Scientist - Marine Life Studies will be hosting an open house on Sunday, June 28th 6-8pm at the Marine Life Studies Ocean and Whale Center in Moss Landing, California for those interested in learning more about how they can support this important work. Address: 8142 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA.

"Julia's addition to our team is transformative," said Peggy Stap, Founder and Executive Director of Marine Life Studies. "Her combination of scientific expertise and advanced whale rescue qualifications strengthens both our research and conservation efforts. As whale entanglements continue to be a growing threat along the West Coast, having another Level 3 responder on our team significantly enhances our ability to respond quickly when every minute counts.”

Marine Life Studies is pleased to announce the expansion of its Research Scientist Program and Whale Entanglement Team (WET) ® with the addition of Dr. Julia O'Hern as the organization's new Senior...