Submitted by the Center for Whale Research

Volunteerism and community support comes in all shapes and sizes.

Meet 8-year-old Jazzlyn Trigueiro who recently held an environmentally friendly lemonade and chocolate chip cookie stand to raise money for whale research. Jazzlyn is passionate about the local resident killer whales and wanted to support whale research.

“When I held up my sign and people saw that I was raising money for whale research, they paid a lot more for lemonade and cookies,” said Jazzlyn.

At age 6 and a half, Jazzlyn became fascinated by local resident killer whale calls and started listening to them on the Orcasound hydrophones. Each day that Jazzlyn has listened to whale vocalizations, she documents it on her calendar. Over the years she has mastered a fine impression of a J pod call. One of her favorite memories is going whale watching on her 7th birthday, doing her whale calls and witnessing J-2, or Granny, breaching. She watches documentaries on whales and was particularly impacted by “Plastic Ocean” and the effect that plastics have on marine mammals and other animals.

Jazzlyn’s lemonade stand — which used biodegradable cups and bags — raised an impressive $238 and handfuls of coins. Her donation to the Center for Whale Research will go towards continued whale research. Jazzlyn is already planning her next lemonade stand for whale research on Memorial Day.

Jazzlyn’s contribution is greatly appreciated by Center for Whale Research Founder Ken Balcomb.

“It is quite humbling to have such enthusiastic volunteer support,” said Balcomb.