Submitted by Griffin Bay Bookstore and San Juan Island Library

Enjoy a lively and interactive book talk at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 22 at the San Juan Island Library. The SeaDoc Society’s Joe Gaydos will discuss the book “Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids,” which both children and adults can pore over together.

The SeaDoc Society has published a book for the next generation. Filled with beautiful photography and engaging stories, “Explore the Salish Sea: A Nature Guide for Kids” inspires children to explore the unique marine ecosystem that encompasses the coastal waters from Seattle’s Puget Sound up to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Strait of British Columbia.

Discover the Salish Sea and learn about its vibrant ecosystem in this engaging nonfiction narrative that inspires outdoor exploration. Filled with full-color photography, this book covers wildlife habitats, geodiversity, intertidal and subtidal sea life, and highlights what is unique to this Pacific Northwest ecosystem. The book was written by SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos and board member Audrey Benedict.

Gaydos is chief scientist for the SeaDoc Society, a marine science and conservation program focused on the Salish Sea. He is a licensed wildlife veterinarian and has a Ph.D. in wildlife health. For over a decade he has been studying the fish and wildlife of the Salish Sea.

Benedict is a biologist, writer and passionate advocate for the conservation of the global ocean and Arctic and alpine environments the world over. She is founder and director of Cloud Ridge Naturalists, a nonprofit natural history educational organization now in its fourth decade. She is currently a member of the board of the SeaDoc Society and served for nearly a decade as a trustee for the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy, from which she received the prestigious One Conservancy Award in 2003 for her work in Ecuador. Audrey splits her time between her home at 9,000 feet along the Colorado Front Range and her off-grid cottage on San Juan’s Frost Island.

“We want [the book] to be available to every fifth- and sixth-grader in the Salish Sea regardless of ability to pay,” said the authors in a statement.

When making a donation to SeaDoc, contributors can mention the “children’s book scholarship” to support this mission.

For more information, visit www.seadocsociety.org.