PLANET OCEAN Why We All Need A Healthy Ocean released this month. We are excited to share this resource with our community as our underwater backyard, Edmonds Underwater Park, is featured in the book. Diving in the Salish Sea at Edmonds Underwater Park changes lives. Our Dive Team is also featured in PLANET OCEAN for the work we do in our community and the stories we share, alongside other inspiring people around the world. Support our community by purchasing PLANET OCEAN for your home/school library, or requesting it at your favorite local library. Storytelling is a powerful way to share messages and inspire others. PLANET OCEAN features stories from our incredible kids/teens of our Edmonds based Dive Team. Kalil Alobaidi speaks to the Washington House Environment and Energy Committee to encourage them to ban plastic bags statewide. Elizabeth Zajaczkowski shares her story about being a voice for the ocean and protesting against the proposal to create an overpass at Edmonds Beach. Nico Ponnekanti created a short film asking us to dive deeper than the surface into what the ocean means to us. Abbey Dias shares her ocean story about learning to dive and protecting the ocean.

The new book by Sibert Honor author Patricia Newman and award winning photographer/filmmaker Annie Crawley (a resident of Edmonds) features three distinct regions: the Coral Triangle near Indonesia, the Arctic Ocean at the top of the world, and our very own Salish Sea home. We created this site because we want everyone to know how special our ocean is in the Pacific Northwest, and are excited to share it with the world. Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is ocean, and here on the coast of Washington in the Pacific Northwest we interact with the water every day. The Seattle Space Needle overlooks the water. Washington’s iconic ferry boats cruise through the Sound. Driving down Main Street in Edmonds, you’ll be in awe of the shimmering water surrounded by mountains. We live in a magical place, and PLANET OCEAN shares why we should care about the stunning world just below the surface.

The Salish Sea is an intricate network of inland waterways located in the Pacific Ocean between Washington and Canada. This includes Puget Sound, our complex estuarine system in Washington. The Salish Sea is home to our cherished Southern Resident Orcas (Orcinus orca), some of the fastest growing kelp in the world (Nereocystis luetkeana), the largest octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) and jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), giant plumose sea anemones (Metridium farcimen), 25 species of rockfish, massive Puget Sound King Crabs (Lopholithoides mandtii), and so much more incredible life.

The second chapter in Planet Ocean is titled “Salish Sea: Our Connection Is Real”, which could not be more true. PLANET OCEAN teaches us how we are connected to the sea. Phytoplankton are important primary producers all around the world, especially here in the emerald sea.

Every week our Dive Team explores Edmonds Underwater Park. We continue to be amazed by the incredible life and strive towards changing the way our community sees the ocean. We created the My Underwater Backyard project at Edmonds Underwater Park to bring our community closer to the life that lives alongside us, just below the surface. From the species identification to Dive Team stories, we want to inspire you as PLANET OCEAN book inspired us to speak up for the ocean. Images and videos linked with QR codes from our region are featured in PLANET OCEAN.

United, we are a voice for the ocean, and PLANET OCEAN book encourages you to join our movement and speak up for the sea. Join our Dive Team to learn how (it’s free).

Find out how you can purchase your copy of PLANET OCEAN: Why We All Need A Healthy Ocean today! Send us your photos, stories, and tag #PlanetOceanBook. We want to hear from you!