Sept 26, 2017

The Maritime Museum of BC is thrilled to announce the launch of a new speaker series titled “Nautical Nights”. This series will be interdisciplinary, exploring topics related to history, science, and the arts. Each month will feature a different speaker and a different theme.

This series will run on the last Thursday of every month from September to April, with the exception of December. It will kick off with a talk on September 28th by Mark Leiren-Young, author of The Killer Whale Who Changed the World.

Mark Leiren-Young was swallowed by a whale named Moby Doll. His latest book, The Killer Whale Who Changed the World – about the first ever orca displayed in captivity – won the 2016 Science Writers and Communicators Book Award and was nominated for the RBC Taylor Award and the Hubert Evans Prize. Mark is directing a feature documentary about Moby, and his short documentary The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, debuts at festivals this fall. He hosts the popular podcast, Skaana, about orcas, oceans, and the environment.

Mark is also a playwright whose work has been produced around the world. He has two plays running in Vancouver this season; Shylock is at Bard on the Beach in September and Bar Mitzvah Boy debuts at Pacific Theatre in March, 2018.

Until July, 1964 killer whales were seen as bloodthirsty sea monsters. That all changed when a young killer whale was captured off the coast of Saturna Island. Bestselling author, Mark Leiren-Young, explores the story of first contact with an alien creature (the orca known as Moby Doll), and how humans went from shooting at whales for target practice to loving them to death.

“The Museum is looking forward to launching this new speaker series,” stated Brittany Vis, Associate Director of the Maritime Museum of BC. “It’s a great opportunity to engage the community in different maritime topics and to present the diversity of areas to explore. We are thrilled that Mark Leiren-Young has agreed to be our first speaker to get things started.”

“Nautical Nights” will be hosted at Ticket Rocket at 101-804 Broughton St. Doors will open at 6:30pm. Drinks are available by donation.

Tickets are:
• $8 Museum Members
• $10 General Admission

Tickets are on sale now and will be sold till the day of the event, or till sold out. Tickets can be reserved directly through the Museum by either coming in in-person, or by calling 250-385-4222 ext. 103. Tickets are also sold online and can be purchased here:
http://www.ticketrocket.co/event/details/101078/nautical-nights-speaker-series-mark-leiren-young