About the Society

Committed to Cetacean Conservation

The American Cetacean Society (ACS) is a non-profit, volunteer membership organization headquartered in San Pedro, California with 7 regional chapters in the U.S. and members in over 20 countries around the world. Founded in 1967, ACS is the oldest whale conservation organization on the planet. Our mission is to protect whales, dolphins, porpoises, and their habitats through research, education, and conservation actions.

ACS Puget Sound Chapter

The Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society (ACS) was re-established in the summer of 1999 and has more than 60 members. Centered in Seattle (with members throughout Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho), we work to protect whales, dolphins, porpoises both locally and worldwide.

ACS Puget Sound seeks to educate through educational outreach programs for both adults and children, guest lectures, teaching aids, and group activities. We believe the best way to protect cetaceans is by educating the public about these remarkable animals and the problems they face in their increasingly threatened habitats.

We support critical research related to our ecosystem by awarding grants to scientists and students. These grants are funded through a portion of your membership fee and the generous donations we receive.

Our excellent Speaker Series features world-renowned scientists, authors, and educators.

Each chapter of the American Cetacean Society is tasked to choose a conservation issue on which to focus. Our board realizes there are several important concerns regarding marine mammals in the Pacific Northwest and these arise from a multiplicity of factors. Therefore, we have decided to take an ecosystem approach to marine mammal conservation issues. Concerns dealing with specific cetaceans will be used as focal issues, but we will do our best to educate ourselves, our members and the public on the "big picture" surrounding issues.

You can read more specific detail about ACS PS chapter activities on this site and in the Whulj archives available on this site in PDF format.