The Pratt Museum received the Excellence in the Museum Profession Award from Museums Alaska for its gray whale project. The award was presented last week at the Museums Alaska conference held Sept. 25-28 in Haines. The award honored the Pratt’s 14-year effort to salvage a gray whale carcass and skeleton, clean and prepare the skeleton and ultimately exhibit it in a show in January. “More than just an exemplary exhibit, the Pratt Museum’s ‘Encounters: Whales in Our Waters’ surpassed the level of public involvement and investment normally considered possible in a community museum exhibition,” presenters said in honoring the museum.