By:
SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos
Education Coordinator Mira Lutz Castle
If more than 70% of the earth’s surface is ocean and we even call it the blue planet, then why have we so grossly understudied marine ecosystems from a conservation science perspective? It might be that not enough humans realize how the ocean creates the water we drink, the oxygen we breath and the food we eat. Afterall, if everybody knew how critical the ocean is for life on earth, we’d surely be taking better care of it.
Planet Ocean features young people working to restore habitat and create a healthier planet.
Engaging the next generation is so important that the SeaDoc Society developed an entire program to create future ocean heroes. We wrote a 5th grade book Explore the Salish Sea (Gaydos and Benedict, Little Bigfoot, ISBN: 9781632170958), you donated money to enable us to give the book for free to students at underprivileged Title 1 schools and tribal-connect schools, we started a free virtual ocean club for students called Junior SeaDoctors and an entire 5th grade curriculum that teachers can use for free to teach students the required Next Generation Science Standards using real-life examples and experiences from the Salish Sea.
So, what’s next? Well just this month, we had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Planet Ocean: Why We All Need a Healthy Ocean (by Patricia Newman, photographs by Annie Crawley, Millbrook Press). This clearly written, beautifully photographed book will take your future ocean hero on a tour of three unique spots, the coral triangle, the Salish Sea and the Arctic.
Scientific facts and inspiration are punctuated with stories of real people who are making a difference, like Turkish scientist Derya Akkaynak and Indonesian activist and educator Angelique Batuna. We like giving young people the opportunity to see what success looks like. That enables them to imagine seeing a story about themselves and their work. Incorporating these examples was brilliant.
Described as being written for 4-8th grade reading levels, Planet Ocean is a chapter book that is dense with information that will be easy for some students, harder for others. We’re not worried about this as adults working with students at lower reading levels will enjoy working with their future ocean hero to get through any of the more challenging parts.
Looking for something for your future reader and much younger ocean hero? Nikki McClure just published the playfully illustrated book 1-2-3 Salish Sea: A Pacific Northwest Counting Book (Little Bigfoot). This isn’t your average orca, octopus, salmon reader. Think 50 surf scoters diving deep, 100 sculpins in a clam garden pool, and 500 dunlins flying as one and you’ll realize that your soon to be reader is going to know about more obscure, yet awe-inspiring creatures than most locals!
No matter who you are working with, keep putting fuel into that young ocean explorer’s fire. Books, conversations and trips to the shoreline all shape who young people will become. Let’s make sure that “1,000 years of a cedar tree sharing life,” as Nikki McClure writes, will be a common site lining our rivers, streams and shorelines 1,000 years from now. Pay it forward.