Interpretive Services
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is a place that offers many opportunities for learning,
adventure, and personal growth. Whether it’s a beach walk led by a trained naturalist, a casual
encounter with a roadside exhibit, or browsing the Internet from home, thousands of visitors each
year are enriched by new insights about the Olympic Coast through interpretive programs offered
by the sanctuary and our partners.
"Interpretation" is the process of educating visitors through first-hand experience, where
spontaneous questions can be answered and the visitor gains an understand of not just facts,
but the meanings of places, people, animal- and plant-life and processes that connect them.
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Visitors to the Discovery Center experience underwater videos in the dive theater. |
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary staff and volunteer docents provide informal and
informative talks in our
Olympic Coast Discovery Center in Port Angeles. The Discovery Center
prepares you for a visit to the coast, or lets you see what you missed, so you can plan for your
return visit.
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Students touch and observe tidepool life in the Feiro Marine Life Center. |
Visit the
Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center
,
next door to the Olympic Coast Discovery Center, in Port Angeles. The marine life center provides
touch tanks and up-close opportunities to meet common tidepool life. The Feiro Marine Life Center (FMLC) is an educational and scientific organization promoting marine education and conservation.
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Visitors learn about marine life with Olympic National Park interpreters. |
Olympic National Park offers tidepool walks, evening campground programs, brochures and wayside
exhibits at many park locations. In addition, visitor information centers in Port Angeles, Forks
and Kalaloch are staffed through most of the visitor season. For more information see the
Olympic National Park website.
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Cape Flattery offers views of Tatoosh Island as well as an abundance of wildlife. |
Summer visitors to the Makah Indian Reservation and Neah Bay should not miss a visit to
Cape Flattery, where Makah Tribal interpreters present informal talks
about the spectacular scenery and marine wildlife of Cape Flattery, the northwestern-most point in
the Lower 48 States. Learn first-hand about the living culture of the Makah people. In addition,
make sure you visit the
Makah Museum in Neah Bay.
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Students participate in an ocean science program with beach field investigations. |
Washington State Parks manage the beach and beach access areas south of the Quinault Indian
Reservation. Griffith Priday, Moclips, Pacific Beach and Ocean City state parks all feature wayside
exhibits and displays. To find specific information about any individual park, browse to
Washington State Parks
main website and search by park name.
Contact for page content: olympiccoast@noaa.gov
