News and Events | Friday Harbor Laboratories

Apr 23, 2026 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – May 2026

Sometimes – maybe even often? – the most interesting results we get in our scientific endeavors are the unexpected ones, not the ones that confirm our hypotheses. These “what, really?” results can lead into exciting new directions and spawn new discoveries.

Mar 27, 2026 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – April 2026

The following essay is both sad – as it follows the passing of a long-term and cherished colleague – and uplifting, as it celebrates his years of contributing at FHL and to marine science education.

Feb 23, 2026 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – March 2026

Undergraduate Education at FHL: The Team Behind the Transformation
by Megan Dethier, Maia Kreis and Mar Wonham
Megan Dethier, the Purpose and the People:
A core part of the FHL mission is education – of undergraduate students, graduate students and lifelong learners.

Jan 26, 2026 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – February 2026

Eelgrass research is an important part of the ecological work done at FHL, as reported in various previous Tide Bites (e.g., volumes 145, 125, 94) by scientists working on wasting disease, ecology, and restoration efforts.

Dec 17, 2025 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – January 2026

Few invertebrates, terrestrial or marine, capture the human imagination as much as cephalopods, especially octopus. There’s something about those big eyes, those many arms, those remarkable behaviors…
In this essay, Willem connects the dots (the suckers?) between eyes, arms, behaviors — to explain how octopuses sense and process their world in unique ways.

Nov 25, 2025 | People, Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – December 2025

Meet the Waterfront Staff
by Megan Dethier
Perhaps the two most important things for a high-functioning marine lab are an excellent seawater system and some kind of boat fleet. As any boat owner knows, boats (and places to keep them) are a handful – FHL has a small but mighty waterfront team who look after this very important facet of our operations.

Oct 23, 2025 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – November 2025

At FHL we try hard to both honor our past by maintaining our core strengths and adapt to the needs of the FHL community. An example is the summer teaching program.

Sep 25, 2025 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – October 2025

In the past several decades there has been an effort to enable more undergraduates to be involved in original research. Having such experience on their resumes makes students stand out and gives them a clear advantage getting into graduate school and other programs.

Aug 25, 2025 | Citizen Science, Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – September 2025

Those of us steeped in traditions of western science – which involves hypothesis testing and is quantitative and unemotional – generally see eelgrass beds as great habitat and sites of high primary productivity, with hopefully an overlay of admiration for gleaming green beauty amid blue water.

Jul 25, 2025 | Publications, Tide Bite

Tide Bite – August 2025

FHL’s “core courses” (which are partially supported by our Marine Life Endowment) include Invertebrate Zoology, Marine Botany, Fishes, and Developmental Biology – each of which is taught in various forms, with different instructors and foci.