Joan Venette loved whales and all marine mammals, and will be missed
Joan Venette's favorite sighting was of a gray whale mother swimming with her baby, and she saw more of these cow-calf pairs in one year than most people will see in a lifetime.
From her perch atop the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Venette watched and made note of not only whales but dolphins, seals and sea lions, sharks and interactions between species. Scanning the ocean with her binoculars, especially after retiring from her job as a registered nurse, was her extreme passion.
Venette, who would have turned 78 on Thursday, lost her struggle with cancer early Sunday morning. She was the heart of the Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project, which is run by Alisa Schulman-Janiger and the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cetacean Society.
The void created by her passing will not be filled. Venette, since volunteering for the project on Jan. 30, 1984, put in 2,760 days and 17,151 hours at her post, which is currently the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. No other volunteer has logged 10,000 hours.
"She was our longtime key anchor and the heart of the project," Schulman-Janiger says, adding that Vinette was usually the first person to arrive for work on a project that began in 1984 and runs annually from Dec. 1 to May 15, during the Pacific gray whale migration period.
I interviewed Venette, a Torrance resident, for a 2004 newspaper story and she told me, "I wait all summer long for this" and that "I don't miss many days. There are some years that I haven't missed any. But then if you get a cold, you don't want to be here passing it on to the others."
Venette is survived by, among others, her husband Ernie and son Vance. Information on services has not yet been released.
Those interested in learning more about the census project or sharing stories about Joan can email Schulman-Janiger at janiger@cox.net.
-- Pete Thomas
Top photo: Joan Venette (left) and close friend Libby Helms on whale watch from the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. Credit: Alisa Schulman-Janiger
Bottom photo of a gray whale by Gary Florin
On behalf of all of us involved in ocean conservation please accept our condolences on the passing of Ms Joan Venette.
"The spirit of the whale lives two lifetimes of men or more, and never forgets its benefactor, If it is treated well, the spirit of the whale will tell others of the kind treatment it received."
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Posted by: ric | August 04, 2009 at 07:06 AM
Joan Venette was my aunt. This is a wonderful article, and I am glad to have seen it. We did not know that it existed. To say whale watching was an extreme passion almost doesn't cover it. My aunt was an amazing women that put her heart and soul into her family and the whales.
She will be remembered by us in our hearts and our memories, but she will be with the whales soon as that is where her final resting place will be.
Posted by: Cindy Lerille | August 20, 2009 at 11:37 PM
Joan was and still is a wonderful woman. She loved the whales and people, too. She was a great educator about whales, and dolphins, and she loved to have fun. Both she and her husband were great partners in life, Ernie picking her up everyday at the end of her time for whale watching at Point Vicente in Palos Verdes. She loved her son, Vance, immensely, and spoke of him to me many times. Whales, stray dogs and cats, nursing, family, and friends were Joan's solid passions, and her presence at the Whale Watch will be missed, though, we have fond memories of Joan's friendship and her joyous laugh to carry us on. She had a wonderful "good morning" greeting to me when I showed up to whale watch, and I was always amazed at the information she kept track of, for years, about the whale counts. She really did "count too" as was our little joke in our Whale Watch group. She always made a person feel at home. Not enough can be said about a person like this. God Bless Joan Venette and her family. May she rest in peace. She is always remembered by us at Whale Watch.
Posted by: Corine Sutherland | September 07, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Joan Venette was a wonderful friend who loved family, whales, dolphins, having fun. She had such a memorable laugh and was an avid whale watcher, keeping track of the grey whale counts for years, that you could ask her anything, and the information was there. Joan Venette "counts too," as is our little joke in Whale Watch. Her husband, Ernie, a great partner to Joanie, and her son, Vance, were so loved by Joan. She was a wonderful partner at whale watch, dependable to the end, as always. God Bless Joan and the Venette family.
Posted by: Corine Sutherland | September 07, 2009 at 10:56 AM