On Feb. 18, at 7p.m. George Hunt, research professor, UW Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, will deliver the third talk in the 2010 Arthur Whiteley Lecture Series.

Held in the Commons at the UW Labs, Friday Harbor, he will speak about the implications of a warmer Bering Sea, the issues of seasonal sea ice cover and the production of walleye pollock.

Hunt’s research focuses on the behavior of marine birds and how changes over space and time influence their foraging opportunities. In collaborative studies, he and his colleagues have investigated the effect of changes in sea ice on the food web which includes sea birds.

As a result of these studies, national and international programs have been established to study climate variations in the sub-arctic seas and how the changes in these marine systems could affect the people and cultures dependent on them. Walleye Pollock is not only a food source for marine birds, but an important commercial fish which appears in frozen packaged fish in our groceries.

Although donations are encouraged, these lectures are free. Refreshments will be served after the lecture to give participants a chance for one-on-one conversation with our speaker.

San Juan Nature Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to natural history education at all levels. For further information about our programs visit our website www.sjnature.org