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CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH

EIN 91-1334319 FRIDAY HARBOR, WA

Browse the largest nonprofits in Washington

Revenue 2024
$2,131,035
Expenses 2024
$797,940

Program services were 95.3% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
U21Z
Classification
1000
Street
PO BOX 1577

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

THE CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH (CWR) IS DEDICATED TO THE STUDY AND CONSERVATION OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWESTS KILLER WHALE POPULATIONS, WITH A PRIMARY FOCUS ON THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES. BUILDING ON HALF A CENTURY OF CONTINUOUS RESEARCH IN THE SALISH SEA, CWR ADVANCES UNDERSTANDING OF KILLER WHALE BEHAVIOR, HEALTH, AND ECOLOGY AND TRANSLATES SCIENCE INTO CONSERVATION ACTION - RESTORING CHINOOK SALMON, PROTECTING VITAL ECOSYSTEMS, AND INSPIRING PUBLIC STEWARDSHIP THROUGH EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

  • THE ORGANIZATIONS CORE ACTIVITY IS THE SYSTEMATIC DOCUMENTATION OF THE SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES (SRKW) THROUGH ITS ONGOING ORCA SURVEY. STAFF CONDUCTED 93 ENCOUNTERS DURING THE YEAR (46 WITH SRKW) DOCUMENTING 4 NEW BIRTHS AND 3 DEATHS, WITH THE POPULATION CURRENTLY NUMBERING 74 INDIVIDUALS. DATA GENERATED THROUGH ORCA SURVEY CONTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO FOUR PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS AND HAS BEEN USED IN RESEARCH THAT RECEIVED INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION, RESULTING IN 639 NEWS STORIES ACROSS 511 UNIQUE OUTLETS IN 33 COUNTRIES. THESE DATA SUPPORT BROADER CONSERVATION EFFORTS BY INFORMING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS AND ADVANCING SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF SRKW BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED THE CORE SURVEY PROGRAM BY TRANSLATING RESEARCH FINDINGS FOR PUBLIC AUDIENCES AND ENGAGING COMMUNITIES IN ORCA CONSERVATION. THE ORGANIZATION DELIVERED 15 GUEST EVENTS AND PRESENTATIONS AND WELCOMED 9,656 VISITORS TO THE EDUCATION CENTER, GENERATING 262 NEW MEMBERSHIPS THROUGH PEER-TO-PEER SIGN-UPS. EIGHT STAFF MEMBERS WORKED IN THE EDUCATION CENTER OVER THE SUMMER, EDUCATING VISITORS ABOUT THE ENDANGERED SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES AND OTHER MARINE LIFE OF THE SALISH SEA. DIGITAL OUTREACH EXTENDED THE REACH OF SURVEY AND EDUCATION EFFORTS GLOBALLY. THE ORGANIZATIONS WEBSITE RECEIVED OVER 120,000 PAGE VIEWS AND MORE THAN 70,000 UNIQUE VISITORS FROM 70 COUNTRIES. SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY, WITH A 267% INCREASE IN INSTAGRAM REACH AND A 200% INCREASE IN FACEBOOK REACH OVER THE PRIOR YEAR. IN ADDITION TO SURVEY AND EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, THE ORGANIZATION ENGAGED IN CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS THAT SUPPORT LONG-TERM ORCA RECOVERY, INCLUDING ADVANCING DISCUSSIONS FOR A LARGE-SCALE RIVER RESTORATION PROJECT WITH THE LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE TO IMPROVE SALMON HABITAT. STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS ALSO PARTICIPATED IN TREE PLANTING WITH THE CLALLAM CONSERVATION DISTRICT AND HOSTED A VOLUNTEER DAY WITH GREAT OLD BROADS FOR WILDERNESS AS PART OF COMMUNITY-BASED STEWARDSHIP AND OUTREACH.

    Expenses $760,622 · Revenue $173,519

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Nicola Bloedel

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Howard Garrett

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    5

  • Lodie Gilbert

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    40

  • Brian Gregory

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Melissa Mager

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • April Smith

    BOARD CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    5

  • Jenny Wilson

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Darren Croft

    EXECUTIVE DI

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    8

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,131,035
    Expenses
    $797,940
    Contributions
    $1,845,895
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $1,082,052
    Expenses
    $841,028
    Contributions
    $762,168
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $790,167
    Expenses
    $485,323
    Contributions
    $665,415
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $953,722
    Expenses
    $456,049
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,528,855

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,179,270
    Expenses
    $440,329
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,032,976

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $690,661
    Expenses
    $561,970
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,291,983

  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $781,120
    Expenses
    $828,345
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,164,578

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $865,900
    Expenses
    $655,148
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,217,082

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $865,900
    Expenses
    $655,148
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,217,082

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $556,669
    Expenses
    $375,738
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,001,235

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $429,231
    Expenses
    $386,003
    Assets (EOY)
    $855,471

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $432,999
    Expenses
    $304,363
    Assets (EOY)
    $811,984

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $355,685
    Expenses
    $310,683
    Assets (EOY)
    $694,052

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 1 November 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.