Burke Museum

09/02/2026

Want to spend more time with each wing from our last video? Here they are with species labels! We even included a couple bonus specimens that didn't make it into the video.

08/31/2026

In the early 1980’s, we began preparing separate spread wings to help illustrate features of birds that had never been accurately drawn. It turns out that wings preserved spread open in this manner are useful in ways traditional specimens are not, including being able to study wing shape, aerodynamics, molt, coloration, and more.

Today our collection of spread wings is the largest in the world, preserving more than 40,000 specimens. Scientists and artists alike use these wings to learn about and show the world the beautiful avian biodiversity of our planet.

To view thousands of images of our collection visit the link in our bio.

08/26/2026

Here are a few looks from Weaving into the Future, a fashion show we hosted in collaboration with Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week and the Coast Salish Wool Weaving Center to celebrate the end of our special exhibition, Woven in Wool: Resilience in Coast Salish Weaving, which closes August 30.

The fashion show featured new woven wool creations from Chepximiya Siyam Chief Dr. Janice George, sa’hLa mitSa Dr. Susan Pavel, Skwetsimltexw Willard “Buddy” Joseph, SiSeeNaxAlt Gail White Eagle, Haʔməkʷitən Kelly Sullivan, Qw3 ’May Usia Tahnee Hawk Miller, and teeweewas Tillie Jones, plus jewelry by wenanua Al Charles, Jr. and weavings by the late Fran and Bill James and Bruce Subiyay Miller.

08/21/2026

What’s the deal with these ear stones and why are they so valuable? They’re technically called “otoliths”, and they grow in the ears of lots of animals (including us humans). They help animals hear as well as sense motion. In fishes, they have growth rings like you’d see in a tree stump. They allow us to tell exactly how old a given fish is. That’s valuable information for scientists who are monitoring fish populations to see if an area is being overfished. The scientific value of otoliths goes way beyond just aging a fish, though. The otoliths contain small but measurable amounts of material from the water the fishes live in along with the food they’re eating. By looking at that material, scientists can learn what the fishes are eating, how they migrate, and even how the chemistry of the ocean is changing over time.

08/19/2026

We had an incredible time with Lower Elwha Klallam carver and silver jewelry maker Wenanua Alfred Charles, Jr. last Free First Thursday in our Artist Studio!

During his time in the Artist Studio, Al explained different wood and silver jewelry carving tools and techniques. He also shared the stories behind his carvings with visitors.

Al is a longtime collaborator and friend of the Burke Museum. From his work as an advisor and artist for our “Woven in Wool” exhibition to UW’s new story pole, Al continues to teach us about our responsibilities and connections to Coast Salish lands, waters, and tribes.

Thank you, Al, for sharing your knowledge, artwork, and humor with us!

You can see some of Al’s carvings, a wooden comb and spindle whorl, in our special exhibit “Woven in Wool”. Come soon, though, because the exhibit closes on August 30!

08/11/2026

08/06/2026

We get so many great questions from kids who come to the Burke via field trips and other programs hosted by our Education department that we decided to answer some of our favorites in a new series of short videos where experts from the Burke answer questions from kids. 
 
Every year our Education department serves a staggering 90,000+ students from pre K to 12th grade through their programs!
 
Kelsie Abrams (on screen) has worked at the Burke as Fossil Prep Lab Manager for the past eight years. She has led dinosaur digs for 16 years and has prepared hundreds of fossils.
 
If you’d like to support our work, consider making a donation at the link in our bio! Donations of all sizes help us provide free or low-cost educational programs for youth.

07/31/2026

Sixgill sharks may be huge (up to at least 14 feet long!) but they’re not dangerous to humans, hence all the friendly diver footage.

We were over at the fish lab filming the team there processing new fishes into the collection when Katherine Maslenikov, our fish collections manager, mentioned we were in the midst of a rare shark event right here in Puget Sound. The last time we were seeing sixgills all over the place like this was more than 20 years ago and, if the pattern we observed last time holds, the sharks we’re seeing right now will abruptly disappear from our waters some indeterminate time in the future.

With the urgency of their expected disappearance looming on the horizon, the Seattle Aquarium is launching a collaborative initiative with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Oregon State University Big Fish Lab and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium to study the sharks while they’re here.

If you’re out diving and you see a shark, fill out the WDFW sighting form! Happy shark week!

For more info on this project see this article: https://www.seattleaquarium.org/stories/the-seattle-aquariums-exciting-research-initiative-focused-on-the-ancient-elusive-sixgill-shark/

07/29/2026

It’s not every day you discover the oldest weasel fossil on earth! Chris Law is an associate curator here at the Burke Museum who studies mammals. He asks questions like: Do otters who use tools eat better than otters who don’t? Why aren’t there more kinds of raccoons? And why are weasels so long?

For more information about Chris’s work, follow him Chris Law.