My home on Pender Island is located in the middle of what is now known as the Salish Sea, an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the waters off of Vancouver, BC. The area spans from Olympia, Washington in the south to the Campbell River, British Columbia in the north, and west to Neah Bay and includes the large cities of Seattle and Vancouver.
Increasingly, the sea and its surrounding watersheds are challenged by an ever-growing list of threats. Ocean acidification, a burgeoning human population, increased marine shipping traffic, and unchecked waste water and sewage runoff are just a few of the immediate pressures that are endangering this jewel of an ecosystem. If healthy ecosystems foster economic prosperity, unhealthy ones represent lost opportunity and income. Whether we depend upon the ocean for our living or for our quality of life, we all benefit from a healthy Salish Sea.
This series is an homage to our fragile earth, this Island Home.