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The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the tide of public forums to on-line sessions.

For Friends of Skagit Beaches, a local group in its second decade highlighting life in and around shoreline and marine ecosystems of the Salish Sea, that is the case both literally and figuratively.

Friends of Skagit Beaches is launching the 16th year of its popular lecture series on-line 7 p.m. Jan. 15. Details for the Zoom link to this Friday’s lecture are at skagitbeaches.org.

The one-hour program will address “Seals and Sea Lions: Pinnipeds of the Salish Sea.” Dr. Cindy Elliser, research director of Pacific Mammal Research (PacMam), is guest speaker.

Friends of Skagit Beaches spokesperson Sue Ehler said Dr. Elliser “will present her fascinating marine research.”

Elliser provided the Weekly News a brief preview.

“They’re called pinnipeds due to their feathered or winged feet,” Ehler said of the lecture topic. “(You can) learn to distinguish between seals and sea lions,” she said, “and how scientists are identifying individuals of these local marine mammals.”

On-line Friends of Skagit Beaches lectures are also scheduled in February, March and April.

The Feb. 19 program, led by Dr. Jacques White, will focus on salmon recovery. The March 19 lecture is devoted to an introductory study of the Asian Giant Hornet provided by Cassie Cichorz of the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

On April 16, Dr. Deborah Kelley, professor of oceanography at the University of Washington, keynotes a Friends of Skagit Beaches examination of deep-sea volcanoes.

Technology, of course, is not foolproof. Because of that, Friends of Skagit Beaches acknowledges that a high level of participation might preclude some from being able to join the live Zoom presentations.

To mitigate that potential inconvenience, Friends of Skagit Beaches will prepare videos of the lectures to be made available within a week of the live programs.

Information: skagitbeaches.org.