An upcoming Oak Harbor Library event will keep the public up-to-date on a certain group of long-nosed residents.

Garry Heinrich, response coordinator for the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network, will educate attendees on northern elephant seals this Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4-5 p.m. An ardent admirer of the pinnipeds, Heinrich is excited to share news of the small herd that calls Whidbey Island home.

“This family is really unusual because all the births occurred on the same beach where there are no other elephant seals,” he said.

The matriarch, Ellie, first appeared in 2010. She gave birth to Ellison in 2015, Elsie Mae in 2018, Eloise in 2020 and Elwood in 2021, all in Mutiny Bay. In 2022, Emerson, Elsie Mae’s first pup, was born a bit further north, in Bowman Bay.

It’s bee

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