Seals & Society
Now on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum
The return of seals to the ecosystem of the Northwest Atlantic is a dramatic story.
To try and tell the story of seals in New England, Dr. Andrea Bogomolni, Ren Bettencourt, Elizabeth Bradfield, and Elizabeth James-Perry came together.
The work started with Andrea and Ren, who began conversations with the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 2016. In 2018, Bradfield joined the team, and we began to build toward an exhibit that might share science, history, and local engagements with seals. However, in 2019, we soon (though it should have been sooner) realized that our concept had a foundational flaw: while we had embraced TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge), we were missing the input and knowledge of a local, Indigenous partner who might speak personally about their knowledge and perspective and help shape the stories. Elizabeth James-Perry joined our team, and she has been foundational in creating what Seals and Society has become.
The contributions of contributing editors Robert Rocha, of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and Monica DeAngelis, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, RI, were essential to the development of the exhibit and website. Kerri Spero was the graphic designer for the log and the physical exhibit. Ren Bettencourt, of All Creatures, created the animated films for this exhibit. You can watch the films here.
