West Seattle Junction Cocoa and Coat Drive, Hanukkah’s first night, more on the list for your Sunday

(Photo by Jon Anderson – holiday mode for Highland Park’s Steller’s Jay)

Today again brings a two-part event list – first part, the holiday-related highlights, from both our West Seattle Event Calendar and Holiday Guide:

SELFIES WITH SANTA: 8:30 am-11 am Saturday and Sunday mornings in December, DIY photos with Santa at CAPERS Home (4525 California SW; WSB sponsor), donation requested for West Seattle Food Bank.

SANTA BRUNCH AT HARRY’S BEACH HOUSE: 9 am-1 pm, reservations required, link and info here. (2676 Alki SW)

HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS COCOA & COAT DRIVE: At the south end of the Farmers’ Market with the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, 10 am-2 pm – bring new or gently used coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and – “Enjoy a cup of hot cocoa courtesy of Husky Deli.” Donations go to the West Seattle Food Bank clothing bank Clothesline.

206 MAKERS’ MARKET AT JET CITY LABS: Find multiple creators/vendors at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW), vendors with ceramics, textiles, baked goods, more. 10 am-2 pm.

VIVA STUDIO TOUR ON VASHON: 10 am-5 pm again today, final day for a self-guided tour of Vashon Islaand artists’ studios, just a ferry ride away. Info and locations at vivartists.com. (WSB sponsor)

WESTWOOD ART STUDIO HOLIDAY ART SHOW & SALE: Final day for this group show and sale, 12 pm-5 pm today, more info here. (9042 31st SW)

CHRISTMAS TREES: Final weekend day for Holy Rosary Tree Lot (42nd/Dakota, 9 am-8 pm today). List of all vendors is in our Holiday Guide.

(Saturday sunset photographed by Chris Frankovich – sunsets start getting later tonight – 4:18 pm – and beyond!)

HANUKKAH: Begins at sundown tonight (4:18 pm). Two public events next weekend – see the list in our Holiday Guide.

ASTRA LUMINA: Celestially inspired light show on the grounds of the Seattle Chinese Garden at the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, 4:45 pm and onward tonight. Tickets and info here.

NORTHWEST BOYCHOIR: Northwest Boychoir‘s second performance of “Festival of Lessons and Carols” at Holy Rosary Church, 7 pm. Tickets here. (42nd SW and SW Genesee)

Now today’s other highlights, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where you’ll find more listings!) and inbox:

AMERICAN MAH JONGG: Weekly games are back at the new location of The Missing Piece (4707 California SW), 9:30 am.

SUNDAY MORNING MEDITATION: Small-group class at 9:30 am at Mama Be Well (4034-A California SW); preregistration info is in our calendar listing.

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Open as usual in its regular spot on California between Oregon and Alaska, 10 am-2 pm, now in almost-winter produce season – roots, greens, peppers, mushrooms, beans, garlic, apples, more – plus lots of baked goods, cheeses, meats, fish, prepared foods, condiments, pasta, more. (Note that our state’s flooding may have affected some of the growers you usually see.)

(added) BENEFIT BAKE SALE: We happened onto Amelia and Thomas on the southeast corner of California/Alaska, outside the Farmers’ Market, having a bake sale to benefit the West Seattle High School Class of 2029. They said they’ll be there until 2 pm.

FREE NIA CLASS: Now starting at 10:15 am, first class free if you pre-register. At Inner Alchemy Studio/Sanctuary. (3618 SW Alaska)

WESTIES RUN CLUB: Sunday run – 10:30 am this week, combined with a holiday party, leaving from Ounces. (3809 Delridge Way SW)

WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Need a tool but don’t need to, or can’t, buy it? You’ll probably be able to borrow it from the Tool Library, open 11 am-4 pm on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

‘SUNDAY SOLIDARITY ACTION’: West Seattle Resist‘s Sunday 11:30 am-1:30 pm sign-holding event, also including a drop-off food drive through the end of the year. South of Farmers’ Market. (California SW and SW Alaska)

BLOCK PRINTING WORKSHOP: 1 pm at Nurture Wellbeing (6307 California SW).

WELCOME ROAD WINERY: Enjoy your Sunday afternoon at this West Seattle tasting room (with a patio!) open 2-5 pm, kids and dogs welcome. (3804 California SW; WSB sponsor)

‘PENELOPE’ MATINEE AT ARTSWEST: West Seattle’s playhouse is presenting the folk-pop musical “Penelope,” with a 3 pm matinée today; get tickets here. (4711 California SW)

WEST SEATTLE INDIVISIBLE: Monthly meeting features guest speaker Shasti Conrad, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, 3:30 pm at Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon).

LIVE AT EASY STREET: Packaging performs in-store at Easy Street Records at 5 pm, all ages, no cover. (4559 California SW)

UNDERGROUND TRIVIA AT CORNER POCKET: 7:30 pm, free to play. (4302 SW Alaska)

LIVE MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: 8-10 pm, Sundays feature live music with the Triangular Jazztet at The Alley (behind 4509 California SW).

Are you planning, organizing, and/or publicizing something that we could add to the WSB community event calendar – one-time or recurring? Or maybe you have a listing for our West Seattle Holiday Guide? Please email us the basic details – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: Wind Advisory alert for tonight through Monday night

December 14, 2025 6:25 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Another Wind Advisory alert from the National Weather Service – this time, for 10 pm tonight (Sunday, December 14) through 10 pm Monday. The NWS alert advises expecting south winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts 45 to 50 mph. And it adds, “Given the very saturated ground, expect that impacts may be more widespread than normally associated with these particular wind speeds.” Charge everything!

SIDE NOTE: Tonight marks the 19th anniversary of the 2006 Hanukkah Eve Windstorm – which threw thousands of West Seattleites out of power for days, us included.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Car-window shooting

December 13, 2025 11:51 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Stacie reports someone shattered her car’s window by firing a BB gun at it, and she says others along her street were hit too:

Our car’s driver-side window was shot at by BB gun sometime overnight 12-12 or early morning 12-13. Wanted to warn the community. We are on 16th Ave SW just south of the college. There were other vehicles hit on 16th Sze that we noticed earlier tonight.

We’ll add the SPD report # when we get it.

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WEST SEATTLE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: As seen from two wheels

December 13, 2025 11:31 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle Christmas lights | West Seattle news

Tonight’s spotlight lights are courtesy of Al, who sent this photo from a stop during The Beer Junction‘s wassail ride tonight – he says it’s in North Admiral, SW Atlantic between California SW and 44th SW. As for the ride, Al reports 17 people pedaled about six miles:

Wherever and however you find lights worth sharing, westseattleblog@gmail.com – with or without a pic! (To see what we’ve shown already, scroll through this WSB archive!)

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WEST SEATTLE WEEKEND SCENE: Santa Pub Crawl, second decade!

December 13, 2025 10:40 pm

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| Holidays | West Seattle news

(WSB photos)

Santa Claus was coming to town. And so was Santa. Santa, too. And Kris Kringle. And did we mention Santa? If you were in The Junction late this afternoon and/or early this evening, you might have noticed an abundance of Santas. It was the 11th year for the West Seattle Santa Pub Crawl, which started at Shadowland (above) at 4 pm and ended at Poggie Tavern (below) at 8:

The pub crawl also takes advantage of Santa’s giving spirit with fundraising raffles benefiting a local nonprofit – today that was Furry faces Foundation.

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SCHOOLS: Denny IMS hosts community conversation about Families, Education, Preschool, Promise Levy just passed by voters

December 13, 2025 7:42 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Local school families, parents, students and education advocates gathered on Thursday night at Denny International Middle School (2601 SW Kenyon) to learn and share ideas about positive impacts made possible by the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) levy, which Seattle voters approved for renewal/expansion in the November election.

The 6-year $1.3 billion levy was overwhelmingly approved by 80% of voters (the highest margin in the 35-year history of Seattle education levies) and is now in “implementation planning” mode through next summer (the Seattle City Council will vote on the plan in June 2026), followed by “year one” implementation beginning in fall 2026 and running through 2032. For more details, see this PDF fact sheet about the levy renewal and the “Every Child Ready” initiative (announced in April).

Organizers on Thursday night expressed gratitude to voters and described the levy as “the biggest education levy in the history of the city and the state,” noting that Seattle is the only city in Washington that provides this type of supplemental funding for the local public school system.

Back in June, we reported about mayor Bruce Harrell (who is in office until the end of this year, before incoming mayor Katie Wilson takes office) signing the bill to send the FEPP levy (aka Proposition 1) to the November ballot. As we reported when Harrell proposed the levy in April, it’s projected to cost the median-assessed-value Seattle homeowner $654 each year. The expiring 2018 version of the levy was described as costing the median-value homeowner $249 each year. Later in June, the City Council considered the FEPP levy proposal and voted to approve the ballot measure, which was then approved by voters in November.

The event on Thursday, held in the “galleria” area that Denny shares with Chief Sealth International High School, was the third of four public meetings about FEPP that were organized by the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL), whose director Dr. Dwane Chappelle welcomed attendees:

Two members of the Seattle City Council were in attendance at Denny on Thursday night and were also invited to give opening remarks. First up was District 1’s own Rob Saka:

As well as Maritza Rivera from District 4 (northeast Seattle) who serves as chair of the council’s Libraries, Education & Neighborhoods Committee and worked closely with Harrell as part of the select committee for the FEPP levy:

The evening’s emcee was longtime local educator and advocate Manuela Slye, who is also a member of the levy oversight committee:

Also in attendance was Seattle School Board member Vivian Song, who formerly served on the levy oversight committee and said she welcomed the opportunity to listen and learn from the community:

After the opening remarks and overviews of the levy, attendees divided into discussion groups to dive deeper into the three key areas that the levy funding is intended to support in 2026-2032. Per the DEEL website and information sheets, these three areas (and their respective “share” of the levy funding) are:

Ready to Start: ($658M) High-quality preschool for three- and four-year olds, with free tuition for low- and middle- income families, child care co-pay support, supports for families with children prenatal to age three, and direct payments to childcare workers.
Ready to Learn: ($510M) Free expanded learning supports for Seattle youth including school-day, afterschool, and summer academic, enrichment, and mentorship programs; funding for five new School Based Health Centers bringing the total citywide to 34; and expanded school safety and student mental health services.
Ready to Launch: ($84M) Tuition-free college at Seattle Colleges accessible for all Seattle public high school graduates through the Seattle Promise program, supported transfer pathway to University of Washington-Seattle, and scholarships to grow a diverse workforce in high-demand careers such as education, trades, and the public sector.

Attendees interested in these topics on Thursday gathered for about 45 minutes of discussion, then shared notes back with the larger group, which we’ll summarize below.

The Ready to Start group talked about issues and opportunities for our youngest scholars:

The group shared family and provider experiences with childcare programs and after-school programs including CCAP (Child Care Assistance Program) and preschool. Some families said they felt they had access to the financial support they need for childcare, but improvements are needed to expand subsidies for middle income families who may not qualify yet and are cost burdened; need to “broaden access overall. Also discussed was the idea of earlier workforce opportunities for high school students to support the child-care workforce by assisting experienced adults, and overall to help providers get certified to offer childcare and preschool services.

Family priorities when choosing child care and thinking about key logistics included:

Core priorities across ages: Quality, trust in providers, cultural and linguistic match (especially for infant and toddler care), reliability, and safety.
School-age priorities: After-school programs that actively engage students in learning.
Logistics and flexibility: Need for flexible hours (including before-school and after-school care, sometimes as early as 5 AM), and provision of food and transportation where needed.

The largest discussion group on Thursday night was Ready to Learn, focusing on K-12 experiences and needs:

Participants talked about the need to support students and families both academically and with a “whole-child” approach, to ensure that needs are met, including:

Academic and enrichment support: After school and outside-of-school enrichment that boosts academics, offers hands-on learning, culturally relevant programming outside the school-day curriculum, and opportunities for youth to learn new skills and try new things.
Whole-child mental health: Holistic mental health that is integrated into daily school experiences and other activities, not solely reliant on youth seeking standalone services. Doing this right requires a range of caring adults who build relationships to reach and re-engage youth.
Meeting community needs and family engagement: Services reflecting whole-community needs, including workforce support and multi-generational involvement (including grandparents and older extended family. Making this work requires explicit, clear invitations for parents and family members to be involved, treating parents as true partners in youth well-being and education.
Community partnerships: Sustained, consistent partnerships bridging in-school and out-of-school supports to provide a stable set of adults ready to respond to academic, social learning, and other needs. This also requires schools and partners that are connected to each other, and to youth and their families.

One of the participants in this group was Denny Middle School principal Mary Ingraham, who talked about the importance of “needs assessments” to identify ways that student and family support can have the most impact.

The final group was Ready to Launch, focusing on preparation and paths to careers and college opportunities after high school:

The group included several high school students who shared their stories and experiences, as well as Councilmember Saka and Chief Sealth principal Hope Perry.

Insights and discussion points from the group included:

Financial assistance navigation and access: Desire for clearer support through applications and access to higher funding amounts, and to involve more people to make processes easier for youth.
Program experiences that shape careers: Group members shared personal experiences and observations with program services (such as school-based health centers) influencing interests in a positive way, including driving artistic careers and sparking interest in fields like psychology (through working with a therapist).
Exposure to careers and education pathways: Need for more exposure in schools to diverse careers and colleges to help youth identify their interests.
Information access challenges: Limited, hard-to-find online information for scholarships, funding for business needs, and internships. One participant noted it is hard to identify the best opportunities online because “the internet is so big,” and others strongly agreed.
Career exploration: More job shadow opportunities and real-world exposure to see what jobs look like “in the real world.”

As the evening at Denny wrapped up, organizers encouraged attendees to stay involved and stay in touch. DEEL also hosted meetings last week in Magnuson Park and Ballard, and are in Columbia City next week on December 16 (details here) to wrap up the 4-meeting series.

Also, if you’re interesting in diving deeper and getting involved with the levy oversight process, the team is now accepting applications for the levy oversight committee which will help with the implementation evaluation plan and review and advise on legislation and related work for the next levee. Applications can be submitted here.

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WEST SEATTLE WEEKEND SCENE: Santa Claus at Menashe Family Lights 2025

December 13, 2025 6:18 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle Christmas lights | West Seattle news

(WSB photo)

It’s the ultimate Santa photo opportunity – tonight’s the one night every season Santa Claus makes an early visit to the Menashe Family‘s legendary Christmas-lights display, so kids can get those special seasonal photos with him. He brought reindeer too, and Mrs. Claus!

They’re at 5605 Beach Drive SW until about 9:30 pm.

Bring a nonperishable donation for the West Seattle Food Bank.

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FOLLOWUP: About the sea-lion sightings at Don Armeni Boat Ramp

December 13, 2025 3:01 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

Our featured photo atop Friday’s West Seattle event list was that of a California Sea Lion hanging out at Don Armeni Boat Ramp, photographed the previous day by Jan Pendergrass. As we always do when we get a report and/or photo about a marine mammal ashore, we asked if Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network had been notified, and she assured us they had. Today, Seal Sitters’ David Hutchinson provides us with more photos and the backstory on what happened:

(Photos by David Hutchinson, Seal Sitters MMSN)

The Seal Sitters Hotline received a call Thursday afternoon concerning a sea lion on one of the docks at the Don Armeni Boat Ramp. A responder was sent to assess the situation and additional volunteers were contacted.

While sea lions commonly do use docks to rest, it’s unusual for them to haul out at this location, so our NOAA network partner SR3 was contacted for assistance with a visual health assessment. SR3 operates a marine mammal hospital in Des Moines, south of Seattle, and Seal Sitters always appreciates their expertise when questions come up about a marine mammal’s condition. The consensus was that this animal, while a bit thin, at this time was just using the dock to rest. Seal Sitters maintained a presence, monitoring its condition.

A few hours later, the first sea lion was joined by a second one. We want to thank the boaters for their cooperation in giving these animals space to rest by launching and retrieving their boats from the other dock. In our urban environment, there are limited areas where marine mammals can safely rest. Both of these animals returned to the waters of Elliott Bay later in the evening.

Seal Sitters had some questions about a possible brand on the first sea lion and some circular marks on the second one. After a study of photographs taken at the site, KC Scofield, SR3’s Response Program Coordinator, determined that they were familiar with the first sea lion on the dock. He was nicknamed “Oscar” by locals in the Des Moines marina, where he resided for some time last winter. He was “treated in the field” for what appeared to be an infected jaw injury. That injury is still visible in Thursday’s photo but no longer appears infected. SR3 provided us with the following links to learn more about Oscar’s story: here and here.

KC also felt that the circular marks on the second sea lion were likely bite marks from a “Cookie Cutter shark.” She mentioned that “Marine mammals are often the favorite snack of these little sharks and while the bites may look bad, they recover quite well from them.”

Seal Sitters and SR3 are members of NOAA’s West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Seal Sitters covers the West Seattle shoreline from Brace Point through Harbor Island and the Duwamish River. Our Hotline is staffed from 8 AM – 8 PM every day of the week. Please report any marine mammal you come across on the beach, alive or dead, or if you feel that an animal in the water is in distress. You can leave a voice mail if calling during other hours.

The hotline number is 206-905-SEAL – that’s 206-905-7325.

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VIDEO: B-Sharp Studio musicians busk for food-bank support

December 13, 2025 2:05 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Holidays | West Seattle news

If you were in the heart of The Junction at midday today, you might have caught some of the holiday music by buskers from B-Sharp Studio. Again this year, they set up on the corner of California/Alaska to gather donations for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks. We recorded part of their performance:

Busking musicians today were Judy, Tim, and Travis. B-Sharp musicians will return next Saturday – 11 am to 1 pm December 20th – for more food-bank fundraising!

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PHOTOS, VIDEO: Wandering along Admiral’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ for treats, activities, photos, more!

December 13, 2025 11:11 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(WSB photos and video)

11:11 AM: Santa is under the disco ball at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor) as the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s “Winter Wonderland” begins. You can stop here for photos with Santa in the coolest suit he might wear all season. This is one of more than a dozen stops on the stroll – activities and treats await you at various local businesses along a mile, from North Admiral to South Admiral – find the map/list here. We’re off to another stop – this is on until 2 pm.

11:34 AM: Need a holiday pic of your pet? Anna is behind the camera at Mud Bay Admiral (2611 California SW), where we photographed her as Henry posed. Steps away, co-proprietor Bill – in festive Christmas sweater – is serving up free cocoa outside Circa (2605 California SW; WSB sponsor):

Near the corner of California and Admiral, the Admiral Church carolers were offering holiday faves:

And now we’re at Brookdale Admiral Heights, where West Seattle High School art students are selling handmade ornaments in the lobby (look for the sign outside):

Face-painting is available here too. We’re off to a few more stops!

12:33 PM: We can guarantee you that Winter Wonderland is the only holiday celebration with an Official Penguin (that’s what The Penguin’s badge says, honest). To complete our tour, we wandered up to the two participating independent North Admiral coffee shops, both with craft stations – here’s a young visitor making an ornament at West Seattle Grounds:

At Current Coffee, ornament-making involves paper coffee filters that you can hang in the shop window or take home!

The sun has even appeared – Winter Wonderland can mean wonder-ful weather, after all. Here’s the map/list again – some activities are stretching beyond the official 2 pm end time; pet photos at Mud Bay continue until 4, and there’s an afterparty of sorts at Welcome Road Winery (3804 California SW; WSB sponsor), starting at 3 pm. The Admiral Neighborhood Association organized Winter Wonderland as a chance to celebrate the community and introduce you to some of the great local businesses you might not have visited before.

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WEST SEATTLE SATURDAY: Admiral’s Winter Wonderland plus many more holiday happenings, and a non-holiday event list too

December 13, 2025 6:03 am

| 0 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Friday’s sunset, photographed by Yvonne Frankovich)

Happy Saturday! We present to you another two-part event list – first, seasonal happenings today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide:

VIVA HOLIDAY ART STUDIO TOUR ON VASHON: 10 am-5 pm both days this weekend – take a self-guided tour of Vashon artists’ studios. Info and locations at vivartists.com. (WSB sponsor)

WESTWOOD ART STUDIO HOLIDAY ART SHOW & SALE: Group show and sale continues this weekend, 10 am-6 pm today, more info here. (9042 31st SW)

WINTER WONDERLAND IN ADMIRAL: Presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, multiple venues, 11 am-2 pm:

Join the Admiral Neighborhood Association (ANA) and our incredible Admiral business community as we spread some holiday cheer. Businesses throughout Admiral will be hosting festive family-friendly events/activities and offering specials during our third annual Winter Wonderland. Join the Daytime Disco Party with Santa at West Seattle Realty, sing your heart out with carolers from Admiral Church, and be on the lookout for the ANA penguin wandering the neighborhood! Find our map of participating locations here. Join the ANA as we celebrate our Admiral community while shopping small this winter!

BUSKING IN THE JUNCTION: 11 am-1 pm today and next Saturday, local musicians will perform carols and winter-themed music, raising money for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks, on KeyBank corner at California/Alaska.

ARTIST POP-UP AT CAPERS HOME: 11 am-4 pm, you’ll find jewelry and ceramics artists today at CAPERS Home (4525 California SW; WSB sponsor).

PET PHOTO BOOTH: Mud Bay in Admiral is hosting a holiday pet-photo booth 11 am-4 pm, free but nonprofit donation encouraged. (2611 California SW)

UGLY SWEATER SOCIAL: Noon-3 pm at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW), including a 2 pm contest with prizes!

PHOTOS WITH SANTA AT CURIOUS KID STUFF: Pics at Curious Kid Stuff‘s Santa Land, 1-3 pm. (4740 California SW)

ALASKA JUNCTION SANTA PUB CRAWL: 4-10 pm, starting at Shadowland (California SW and SW Oregon). 21+.

(Photo by Margaret – new holiday touches set up for Astra Lumina)

ASTRA LUMINA: Celestially inspired light show on the grounds of the Seattle Chinese Garden at the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, times vary. Tickets and info here.

WEST SEATTLE BIG BAND @ WS EAGLES: Second chance to see them in less than a week:

WSBB will be the featured Saturday night dance band at the West Seattle Eagles on December 13th. A dinner of Baked Zita will be available for purchase at $15 prior to the show at 5:30 PM. First come, first served. All proceeds of the dinner will go to the Music Boosters at James Madison Middle School. Space is limited. No reservations will be taken for the meal. The evening of music starts at 7:00 PM with 3 sets concluding at 10:00 PM. Music will include some Christmas favorites as well as big band swing and jazz. There is no cover charge for the event, but a tip jar will be available with 100% of the proceeds of the evening going to the Madison instrumental music program. The event entrance is off the alley behind the Eagles Building at 4426 California Ave SW.

JACKBOX HOLIDAY PARTY AT FOURTH EMERALD GAMES: Play games and support charity, starting at 5:30 pm. (4517 California SW, upstairs)

SANTA AT MENASHE FAMILY LIGHTS: West Seattle’s brightest lights host Christmas’s jolliest old soul – with reindeer! 6-10 pm. (5605 Beach Drive SW)

CHAMPAGNE EVENT #2: West Seattle Wine Cellars (6026 California SW) hosts another champagne event – this one at 6 pm – details and registration link here.

BELLS OF THE SOUND: 7 pm concert with Puget Sound’s premier handbell choir at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (3940 41st SW) – “Let Your Heart Be Light” is this year’s theme. By donation, at the door.

CHRISTMAS TREES: As noted here, every place that sells them in West Seattle is up and running! Scroll through the Holiday Guide any time for the list.

And here are the non-holiday-season events for today, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and inbox:

SWEAT TESTING: 7:50 am at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) – preregister here.

SATURDAY GROUP RUN: Also at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor), regardless of whether you’re getting sweat testing, you can join the Saturday 8 am free group run!

FREE! HEAVILY MEDITATED: Free 9 am community meditation at Inner Alchemy Sanctuary/Studio (3618 SW Alaska) – register here.

STORY TIME WITH CRAFT ACTIVITY: 9:30 am at Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW), free.

INTRODUCTORY WALK and WALKING FOR WELL-BEING: 9:30 am, walk a mile as a prelude to the 10 am well-being walk (or just show up for that one). Both start from 47th SW and Fauntleroy Way SW.

SSC GARDEN CENTER: The Garden Center at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW, north end of campus), is open 10 am-3 pm – one more week until its holiday break!

MORNING MUSIC AT THE COFFEEHOUSE: 10:30 am-noon at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), Marco de Carvalho and Friends perform. Info about Marco’s music is here.

FREE WRITING GROUP: In session again this week, 10:30 am, info in our calendar listing.

FAMILY STORY TIME: 10:30 am at High Point Library. (3411 SW Raymond)

GRIEFSHARE: Newest session continues, 10:30 am at Grace Church, no charge (10323 28th SW)

FAMILY READING TIME: At Paper Boat Booksellers, 11 am family reading time. (4522 California SW; WSB sponsor)

LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: The home of West Seattle’s history is open noon-4 pm on Saturdays. (61st SW and SW Stevens)

VIETNAMESE CULTURAL CENTER: The center is open to visitors noon-3 pm, as explained here. (2236 SW Orchard)

VISCON CELLARS TASTING ROOM/WINE BAR: Tasting room open for you to enjoy wine by the glass or bottle – 1-6 pm at Viscon Cellars (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor).

NORTHWEST WINE ACADEMY TASTING ROOM, WINE BAR, STORE: On the north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus:

The Northwest Wine Academy Tasting Room is OPEN Thursday-Saturday 1 pm-6 pm until December 20th! Back by popular demand: We are featuring our 2016-2019 varietals for a mix and match $62 case! Stop by for a tasting and a case for the holidays! Thank you for a beautiful year of supporting our students!

Enjoy student-produced wines and affordable eats at the Northwest Wine Academy Tasting Room and Wine Bar at South Seattle College, with proceeds benefitting student learning and the Wine Studies Program. NWWA is located in the North Parking Lot at South Seattle College (6000 16th Ave SW) in the Puget Ridge neighborhood of West Seattle.

FREE MASSAGE: 3-5 pm walk-in clinic offering short, specific massages at Nepenthe. (9447 35th SW)

2 ‘PENELOPE’ PERFORMANCES AT ARTSWEST: West Seattle’s playhouse offers something different this holiday season – the folk-pop musical “Penelope,” with a 3 pm matinée and 7:30 pm evening performance today/tonight; get tickets here. (4711 California SW)

LIVE IN-STORE AT EASY STREET RECORDS: Stephanie Anne Johnson performs at Easy Street Records (4559 California SW), 7 pm, free, all ages.

LIVE MUSIC AT MR. B’S: 7 pm, Angelina Adams at Mr. B’s Mead Center (9444 Delridge Way SW), no cover.

REVELRY ROOM DJ: Saturday spinning starts at 9 pm – tonight it’s DSoul Focus FM at Revelry Room. (4547 California SW).

KARAOKE AT TALARICO’S: Our Saturday list concludes with 10 pm karaoke at Talarico’s Pizzeria. (4718 California SW)

Got a West Seattle event coming up? If community members are welcome, your event is welcome on our calendar! Please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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Tragic history, new hope, and celebrating a devoted duo @ The Whale Trail’s 2025 Winter Gathering

December 12, 2025 10:20 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | Whales

(Maya Sears showing a photo of the new Southern Resident Killer Whale calf)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The newest Southern Resident Killer Whale – the K-Pod baby born just days ago – is looking good.

That was the word last night from two of the researchers who have seen the calf up close, Mark Sears and Maya Sears, the West Seattle-based father-and-daughter team who were guest speakers at The Whale Trail‘s Winter Gathering.

The heart of the event hosted by Whale Trail founder/executive director Donna Sandstrom at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) was a celebration of Mark’s half-century of work with the orcas; the Sears family has had a front-row seat for Puget Sound, whales and more, as multigenerational resident caretakers for Colman Pool on the shore at Lincoln Park. When the Southern Residents are in central Puget Sound, they head out too, partnering with other organizations to gauge the health of the endangered 74-orca population.

How the Southern Resident population dwindled so low was part of the discussion, revisiting the painful years in the 1960s and 1970s when Puget Sound’s orcas were allowed to be rounded up and captured to be put into captivity at commercial aquariums and amusement parks. Mark explained that knowledge and understanding of the giant marine mammals was woefully lacking – there was a prevailing misconception that the population numbered in the thousands, when in reality it was only hundreds. At least four times the current number, he said, but that was decimated soon enough – and the indignity and injustice was compounded by the deaths of many during, or shortly after, capture operations … and the anguish of the family members left behind, some of whom followed boats transporting orcas out of the area. Some of the whales fell prey to the capturers because they didn’t want to leave their families, he added. The captures “completely short-circuited the entire Southern Resident community” for a generation.

Speaking of generations – Mark’s been involved with the orcas since 1976; Maya became a NOAA-certified researcher in 2018. She was described as “known far and wide as the best identifier of the whales” – she can see a patch, a dorsal fin, and know which whale it is.

Mark explained that he got involved by being “a reliable reporter of whales” when the movement to protect them grew to include the need for information on when they were present in Puget Sound. He laughed at the memory of a hotline that people often called “collect” (back when it cost extra for phone calls depending on how far away the caller was from the person or place they were calling; if you didn’t want to pay the extra charge, you could make a “collect” call asking the recipient to be charged instead).

His many memories over the years included the honor of naming a whale – J35, Tahlequah, who has gained sad fame in recent years as the mom orca who swam for days while carrying her dead calves. She was born in 1998 and named after the South Vashon community that held a lot of importance for the orcas.

Also on the subject of Vashon, he told his side of the story of rescued Northern Resident orca Springer, the historic rescue that brought Sandstrom even more deeply into the world she had shared with whales for 20 years by then, and that she had recapped at the start of last night’s event (she’s published an award-winning book about it too, Orca Rescue). Mark said a friend of his who worked for Washington State Ferries would call him when WSF became aware of orcas in the area. His friend told him about this lone young whale; Mark verified its presence and “then started making calls … this animal just glued itself off North Vashon for weeks.”

When he yielded the stage to Maya, she shared some of her secrets about identifying which whale is which – with patches and fin shapes. And she talked about the work they do gathering mucus and fecal samples – not glamorous, but vitally important: “We’re really trying to understand what is going on inside a killer whale,” such as whether they’re absorbing nutrients. They partner with researchers/veterinarians from the San Diego Zoo and Sea Doc Society in this work, as well as with NOAA, and what they learn about what the whales are eating helps advocates push for protection of species on which the whales rely to stay alive. Largely, Maya said, they’re eating chinook salmon, chum salmon when they come down here in the fall (because they’re “big and numerous,” she explained). She also had a whimsical aside explaining how the orcas like to play with their food and might toss a big salmon around for a bit before dining on it.

Maya and Mark said the new baby orca in K-Pod, which visited the area this week, looks “promising” – so many calves don’t survive, and some look borderline from the beginning, but this one seems healthy so far. They showed a photo of the baby, whose sex is not known yet, with other older females from the pod. Its mom is K36, Yoda, 22 years old.

Sandstrom had pointed out earlier that this birth brings the Southern Resident orca population to 74, and that’s important in a glass-half-full way – rather than dwelling on “only 74,” she contends, it should be noted that the population includes 11 calves under six years old, seven of the female: “The future is here now.”

But keeping it a hopeful future, she said in her opening remarks, will require ongoing advocacy. Growing the Southern Resident population has been by no means just a matter of not capturing any more; the population built back to almost 100 when the captures stopped, but then other trouble intensified – noise, lack of fish, pollution, and more. She ticked off a list of action that’s helping, much of it springing from the Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery Task Force formed by former Gov. Jay Inslee (Sandstrom was part of that group). Action you take to lessen thse pressures doesn’t have to be herculean, Sandstrom noted – help the salmon by watching what you put down drains, for example. And whale-watching from shore instead of from sea. And then, as the actions of so many compound and the Southern Residents pull back from the brink, Sandstrom told attendees, “You can say ‘we did that’.”

After some Q&A for Mark and Maya, they were honored with a toast – to the years they’ve worked with and for the whales, and to hopefully “many more to come.

LAST CALL FOR ‘WELCOME THE ORCAS’: The Whale Trail’s “Welcome the Orcas” activities – including a Pod Passport and a special menu item at Arthur’s in Admiral – run through Monday; read about them here.

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