MAALAEA – The first annual Taste of Kohola Brewery at Maui Ocean Center on Thursday, Oct. 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. will benefit the Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute and Hui O Wa’a Kaulua (Assembly of the Double-Hulled Canoe).

Event highlights include two 16-ounce pours of your choice from six different Kohola craft beers in a Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute commemorative glass, dive presentations, live entertainment (including special guest Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom), stargazing with Anthropologist and Astronomer Rakhal Kincaid, Coral Feeding Station and Sea Turtle Explore Station.

Additional beer is available for purchase. Space is limited. Admission is $39.95 per adult; attendees must be over 21 years of age.

In related news, Maui Ocean Center’s free Sea Talk series continues on Sunday, Oct. 14, with “Using Citizen Science to Study Whale Sharks.”

Stacia and Travis Marcoux of Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective will explain how citizen science contributes to whale shark studies of population dynamics in Hawaii.

Sea Talks take place in the Open Ocean exhibit; doors open after 5:30pm. Seating is limited, and advance reservations are recommended. Call (808) 270-7075 or e-mail info@mauioceancenter.com for information.