Past Lectures

Shinnecock History in Whaling & Shipwrecks with David Martine, Curator for the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center.

ALL ABOUT SHARKS! With the Fish Guy, Chris Paparo
This Thursday April 11, 7 p.m. at the Museum.

Chris is a writer and lecturer, a wildlife photographer, member of SoFo's Shark Research and Education Program, has tagged white sharks with OCEACH, managed the shark exhibit at the LI Aquarium for 13 years and assisted WCS (NY Aquarium) tagging sand tiger sharks.

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Ancient Native Artifacts of the North Fork

Wednesday, March 20 6 PM at the Museum

An evening with Dr. Lucina Hemmick & Ephraim Horowitz of the NY State Archeological Association, operators of the Southold Indian Museum. Based on their forthcoming book, Ancient Native Artifacts of the North Fork.

Shellfish Farming on the East End with Karen Rivara

Thursday February 29, 7 PM at the Museum

The second installment of our 2024 Winter Lecture Series. Learn about the history of local shellfish farming and aquaculture from one of the pioneering women of the 1980's, Karen Rivara. See how this industry has evolved over the last forty years and what the future holds.

Registration required

Members: Free | Non-Members: $10 donation
For reservations: please call 631 477-2100 or email: director@eastendseaport.org

Leave your name, contact information, number of people in your party and which lecture(s) you will be attending.

Menhaden: The Fishery and the History of our Local Industry

Have you wondered about those fish washed up on the shoreline? Those sightless eyes were once part of a vast shoals of fish that have been migrating along the East Coast of America forever.

In this program, John Holzapfel will enlighten you how these small fish, key players in our marine ecosystem, have been an economic driver creating an industry and fortunes.

Known by many names, these fish were intrinsic to the maritime history of the East End.

Join us for an interesting and entertaining evening exploring the story of the Menhaden.

About John Holzapfel
John has an undergraduate degree in chemistry and a masters degree in Marine Science. He taught high school science for 37 years and junior college science for 15 years. He served on two occasions as a Southold Town Trustee and also served as a member of Cornell Cooperative's marine advisory board. When he retired from teaching he began a shellfish company, and, after 10 years, retired from the shellfish business. Over the past 7 years John has been giving monthly talks on nature at Peconic Landing and is a favorite speaker at the East End Seaport Museum.

Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author Bill Bleyer on the Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington, the Worst Maritime Disaster in Long Island History

Friday August 11, 2023 at 7:00pm

Rebuilding Bug Light: Otto Schoenstein

Thursday June 11, 2015 at 7:00pm

Otto Schoenstein single handedly planned, designed, and built the lantern room atop the newly constructed Lighthouse which is a replica of the one destroyed by fire on July 4, 1960. Otto’s accurately scaled model will be on display for the evening in addition to the Museum’s new permanent Bug Light room.

Follow the Stars: Captain Dave Berson

Thursday June 25, 2015 at 7:00pm

David Berson, Merchant Marine Licensed Captain, former relief skipper and celestial navigator instructor aboard schooner Pioneer, yawl Petrel, schooner Harvey Gamage, schooner Ocean Star.  Contributing editor Ocean Navigator Magazine, writing celestial navigation problems. Co owner and operator of Glory, the only Coast Guard certificated solar charged electric powered tour boat in United States. Operating from Preston's dock since 1999. Co founder with Meg Bennett, of the not for profit educational foundation Glory Going Green Inc, which provides free art, science music writing education programs 12 months a year to the elementary school children of Greenport

PRESERVE PLUM ISLAND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS: CHRIS CRYDER

Thursday July 9th, 2015

Preserve Plum Island for Future Generations, will take the audience on a "virtual tour" of Plum Island and discuss efforts to preserve the Island. 

Chris is the Special Projects Coordinator for Save the Sound and the Outreach Coordinator of the Preserve Plum Island Coalition. He studied biology as an undergraduate and has a masters in health administration.

Takes a village to build a boat: ARDEN SCOTT

Thursday July 16, 2015 at 7:00pm

Greenport artist, Arden Scott, will discuss her learning curve and experiences building a sailing vessel.

Captain Pat Mundus

Thursday July 23, 2015 at 7:00pm

Pat will discuss her life's career from Montauk "dock rat" to graduate of the NY Maritime Academy to 17 years sailing aboard a tanker then owner of a charter sailing vessel enterprise. Her life vest never included the protection of harassment laws! 

George Washington’s Great Gamble: How Sea Power Won American its Freedom: James Nelson

Thursday July 30, 2015 at 7:00pm

After 6 years of brutal fighting against the greatest maritime power on earth, Washington knew he could not win without control of the sea. Despite all odds, Washington gambled his army and the outcome of the war on the single chance of gaining naval superiority.

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Jim Nelson was born and raised in Maine and graduated from UCLA with a degree in motion picture/television production. Finding that despite being in Southern California, it was a damp, drizzly November in his soul, Jim took the cure Melville recommended and decided to sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. For six years he worked on board traditional sailing ships before launching a writing career as in 1994. He has since written seventeen works of maritime fiction and history. He is the winner or the American Library Association/William Young Boyd Award and the Naval Order’s Samuel Eliot Morison Award. Nelson has lectured all over the country and appeared on the Discovery Channel, History Channel and BookTV. He currently lives in Harpswell, Maine, with his former shipmate, now wife Lisa and their four children.

Inside the Coffee Pot: Ted Webb

Thursday August 13, 2015 at 7:00pm

Ted Webb, Flotilla Commander, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, takes us into and through one of the most photographed and importantly situated lighthouses on the East Coast, the Orient Point Lighthouse.

Check back soon to learn more about Ted Webb, Flotilla Commander, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Antarctica, At the Bottom of the Earth: Cara Sucher

Thursday August 27, 2015 at 7:00pm

For the past 16 years, Cara Sucher has been the manager of science and technology labs at various stations in the most untouched region on the planet. She will share her experiences, joys, work and her beautiful photography.

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A native Long Islander, Cara earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Rochester and a graduate degree in Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. She made her first trip to the Antarctic as a 2nd year graduate student, where she spent time conducting field work at Vostok Station, a Russian research station in the Antarctic interior and in the Ross Sea aboard the icebreaker, RVIB Nathanial B Palmer (NBP). After completing her degree, Cara spent two years in Washington, D.C. working first for the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the interagency US Global Change Research Program and then for NOAA’s Office of Global Programs. For the past fifteen or so years, Ms. Sucher has worked for various logistical contractors in support of the NSF’s US Antarctic Program (USAP) and has spent many, many months at both Palmer and McMurdo Stations as well as on both USAP-owned research vessels, the NBP and the ASRV Laurence M Gould. Cara is currently the manager of Science Planning, a team of people who assist the NSF in determining the resource requirements and logistical needs necessary to support USAP science at all three US research stations, on both ships, and in various deep field locations across the continent. Ms. Sucher resides in Washington D.C.