MARINE DISCOVERY CENTER PARTNERS
About
Feiro Marine Life Center and Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary are coming together to create a new Marine Discovery Center, as part of the Port Angeles Waterfront Center campus. Inspired by the waters that unite us, we are excited to build not just a new facility, but a new point of confluence: drawing people together in community with the natural environment that connects us all, from Port Angeles and the outer coast to our neighbors across the waters.
Watch our story here…
Feiro Marine Life Center
The Feiro was built in 1981 through the efforts of the late Arthur D. Feiro, a former high school science teacher. He recognized the value of a place on the Port Angeles waterfront where children, local residents, and thousands of annual summer visitors could experience and learn about the marine environment he so loved.
Through the efforts of a cadre of volunteers, numerous community fundraisers and lasting community partnerships, Feiro’s vision of a multifaceted, dynamic, facility is taking shape. It will provide a public display of marine organisms and ecosystems, a teaching laboratory, a public center for marine studies and a point of interest for tourists. In 2008, Feiro was granted 501(c)(3) status by the IRS, and a non-profit was born with a new mission to contribute to a “strong community by providing local marine and watershed learning experiences, inspiring us all to act on behalf of our environment.”
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary includes 3,188 square miles of marine waters off the rugged Olympic Peninsula coastline. The sanctuary extends 25 to 50 miles seaward, covering much of the continental shelf and several major submarine canyons. The sanctuary protects a productive upwelling zone – home to marine mammals and seabirds. Along its shores are thriving kelp and intertidal communities, teeming with fish and other sea life. In the darkness of the seafloor, scattered communities of deep-sea coral and sponges form habitats for important marine wildlife.
The Olympic Coast Discovery Center, located at the Port Angeles Wharf on the waterfront, is a great place to begin learning adventures on the Olympic Coast.