Capt. Lynn Danaher

Born in Portland, Oregon, raised on the Columbia River  Lynn has spent her life around the marine environment, self taught and educated in the field.  She spent 23 years living in Homer, Alaska. During that time she homesteaded in the bush and was a commercial fisherman.  During her years spent commercial fishing she explored the coastline from the Bering Sea to Prince William Sound, Canada to Seattle.  She was always active in local politics and environmental issues, was a founding member of the Kachemak Bay Conservation Society and served on the Board of the Kachemak Bay State Park Advisory Board. She worked on the front lines during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989. 2 years later she participated in an archeological expedition along the Alaska Peninsula to evaluate oil spill damage to known cultural sites.  During that expedition she discovered a significant undiscovered cultural site, near Taki Island, in the Gulf of Alaska.

Her early fascination with Polynesian culture led her to Hawaii in the 60’s where she attended the University of Hawaii.  She continued to study Polynesian history and culture during her 23 years in Alaska.  After leaving Alaska in 1994, she started a whale watch company in Friday Harbor, San Juan Excursions.  Her next project in 2003 was the purchase and renovation of Star Storage and Surina Business Park.  Since 2007 she has restored 8 historical buildings in Friday Harbor. She is a USCG Licensed Master, Dive Master, accomplished photographer, Fellow of The Explorers Club and Founding Member of the Pacific Islands Research Institute, (PIRI).  Since 2006 she has participated in 8 Explorers Club Flag expeditions. Lynn was a board member for six years and currently serves on several leadership committees.

She has been to all 7 continents and worked aboard expedition ships for 7 years. She has traveled the length and breadth of the Pacific Ocean, from Siberia to Antarctica and Chile to New Zealand as an expedition guide and field expert. Lynn co-founded the Friday Harbor Film Festival to support and elevate filmmaking on social and environmental justice and continues to sit on the board. She helped organize and raise funds for the Rapa Nui Planetarium and most recently restoration of the historic Aloha Theatre in Hanapepe, Kauai.  PIRI will focus on the educational use of the Theatre portion for documentary films, lectures and presentations as well as create a museum about the Hanapepe area. 

She splits her time between the San Juan Islands, Washington and Kauai, Hawaii.