This gorgeously illustrated picture book is a celebration of summer vacation and West Coast island life. Every day is different on Gran's island in the Salish Sea as granddaughter climbs big-leaf maples, eats blackberries, explores tide pools and sandstone caves and examines ancient middens and petroglyphs. She and Gran watch harbor seals sunning themselves and Gran's neighbor carving an eagle out of a piece of cedar while drinking fresh nettle tea. And on her way home, our young narrator sees a pod of orcas, breaching, tail lobbing and spy-hopping as she says goodbye to the island for another summer.

Gorgeous, fascinating and unconventional, the Islands in the Salish Sea show aspects of the Gulf Islands that are most beloved by the residents, from heritage orchards, fishing spots and patches of endangered wild orchids to ancient First Nations' sites and bird colonies. The community on each island decided what elements should be depicted, and local artists then created each of the magnificent and wildly different maps. This volume is a treasure-trove of cherished information that could have been lost, presented with imagination and great beauty. The Islands in the Salish Sea Community Mapping Project was coordinated by Sheila Harrington and Judi Stevenson, who live on Salt Spring Island.

With a long list of activities and events to attend, cousin Thomas paints a picture of city life that makes Jessie’s world seem a little dull in comparison. When her mother suggests they invite Thomas to visit their island, Jessie wonders glumly what she could possibly write in her letter that would sound as exciting as zoos, planetariums or video arcades. But as Jessie looks out over her island home, she sees a world of endless variety, from killer whales in the strait and bald eagles soaring overhead to anemones in tide pools and tiny hermit crabs on the shore. She thinks of countless days spent exploring, fishing, swimming and canoeing.

"The Salish Sea is a feast for the eyes, a high-quality publishing effort rich in glossy colour photos and fascinating biological information that is likely to surprise even someone well-versed in our marine waters." —The Vancouver Sun In stunning color photographs, and compelling stories, this keepsake book reveals the the Salish Sea, a unique ecosystem home to thousands of different species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and macro-invertebrates. The Salish Sea region is an ecological jewel straddling the western border between Canada and the United States, connected to the Pacific Ocean primarily through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There, lush and mossy old-growth forests meet waters with dazzlingly-colored anemones and majestic orcas. This is the first book of its kind to describe the Salish Sea, whose name was not even officially recognized until 2008. One of the world’s largest inland seas, the Salish Sea contains 6,535 square miles of sea surface area and 4,642 miles of coastline. This fascinating visual journey through the Salish Sea combines a scientist’s inquiring mind, dazzling full-color photographs, and a lively narrative of fascinating stories, all of which impart a sense of connection with this intricate marine ecosystem and the life that it sustains.

Filled with beautiful photography and engaging text, Explore the Salish Sea 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 non-fiction 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.

Plenty of people talk about farm-to-table dining these days. But on Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands, it's truly a way of life. And why not, when there is so much abundance to choose from? From the Comox Valley to the Cowichan to Salt Spring Island, you'll find everything from truffles to tea, passion fruit to Pinot Noir, water buffalo to the most delicately briny oysters. Island Eats is a tribute to the vibrant food culture of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and the celebration of a passionate culinary community built on the edge of a continent. Whether they're shucking oysters and rolling pasta just for you, pouring you a glass of local wine, telling you about the best surf beach or hiking trail or the cool new craft brewery in town, the chefs, mixologists, and food artisans profiled in this cookbook have contributed to the heartfelt food traditions of a rare culinary destination. Featuring more than 80 signature dishes, from a classic salmon chowder to island-foraged chantarelle risotto, apple pie waffles to bannock ice-cream sandwich, this inspired collection boasts locally-minded, soul-satisfying dishes that readers will want to make again and again.

Not far from Seattle skyscrapers live 150-year-old clams, more than 250 species of fish, and underwater kelp forests as complex as any terrestrial ecosystem. For millennia, vibrant Coast Salish communities have lived beside these waters dense with nutrient-rich foods, with cultures intertwined through exchanges across the waterways. Transformed by settlement and resource extraction, Puget Sound and its future health now depend on a better understanding of the region’s ecological complexities. Focusing on the area south of Port Townsend and between the Cascade and Olympic mountains, Williams uncovers human and natural histories in, on, and around the Sound. In conversations with archaeologists, biologists, and tribal authorities, Williams traces how generations of humans have interacted with such species as geoducks, salmon, orcas, rockfish, and herring. He sheds light on how warfare shaped development and how people have moved across this maritime highway, in canoes, the mosquito fleet, and today’s ferry system. The book also takes an unflinching look at how the Sound’s ecosystems have suffered from human behavior, including pollution, habitat destruction, and the effects of climate change. Witty, graceful, and deeply informed, Homewaters weaves history and science into a fascinating and hopeful narrative, one that will introduce newcomers to the astonishing life that inhabits the Sound and offers longtime residents new insight into and appreciation of the waters they call home. A Michael J. Repass Book

Fishes of the Salish Sea is the definitive guide to the identification and history of the marine and anadromous fishes of Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca. This comprehensive three-volume set, featuring striking illustrations of the Salish Sea's 260 fish species by noted illustrator Joseph Tomelleri, details the ecology and life history of each species and recounts the region's rich heritage of marine research and exploration. Beginning with jawless hagfishes and lampreys and ending with the distinctive Ocean Sunfish, leading scientists Theodore Wells Pietsch and James Orr present the taxa in phylogenetic order, based on classifications that reflect the most current scientific knowledge. Illustrated taxonomic keys facilitate fast and accurate species identification. These in-depth, thoroughly documented, and yet accessible volumes will prove invaluable to marine biologists and ecologists, natural resource managers, anglers, divers, students, and all who want to learn about, marvel over, and preserve the vibrant diversity of Salish Sea marine life. Comprehensive accounts of 260 fish species Brilliant color plates of all treated species Illustrated taxonomic keys for easy species identification In-depth history of Salish Sea research and exploration

Puget Sound is a magnificent and intricate estuary, the very core of life in Western Washington. Yet it's also a place of broader significance: rivers rush from the Cascade and Olympic mountains and Canada's coastal ranges through varied watersheds to feed the Sound, which forms the southern portion of a complex, international ecosystem known as the Salish Sea. A rich, life-sustaining home shared by two countries, as well as 50-plus Native American Tribes and First Nations, the Salish Sea is also a huge economic engine, with outdoor recreation and commercial shellfish harvesting alone worth $10.2 billion. But this spectacular inland sea is suffering. Pollution and habitat loss, human population growth, ocean acidification, climate change, and toxins from wastewater and storm runoff present formidable challenges. We Are Puget Sound amplifies the voices and ideas behind saving Puget Sound, and it will help engage and inspire citizens around the region to join together to preserve its ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it.

Daphne's musings reflect her delight and awe of life on an island in the Salish Sea. She shares her seemingly mundane encounters with the Island's eccentric pioneers and creatures with insight and wonder. Her sketches and illustrations of the nature of the Pacific Northwest range from microscopic diatoms to burgeoning spring wildflowers to glacial boulders. Daphne shares it all with endearing curiosity and whimsy of an artist, scientist, and Nana that lives on a craggy outreach on a tranquil island in the San Juan Archipelago.