Contacts: 

Zachary DeWolf, Washington Environmental Council, zachary@waconservationaction.org, 206-771-4207
Erika Lundahl, Braided River, erikal@mountaineersbooks.org, 541-241-1576
Tim Kuniholm, Seattle Aquarium, t.kuniholm@seattleaquarium.org, 206-386-4345

SEATTLE, WA–On April 8, Washington Environmental Council and Braided River partner to launch an awe-inspiring, curated photo exhibit called, We Are Puget Sound at the Seattle Aquarium through August 2021. The exhibit, based off a book and campaign launched last year and long-delayed due to COVID-19, features captivating photography and stories from around our region designed to spark collective and personal action to restore Puget Sound for generations to come.

We Are Puget Sound amplifies the voices and ideas behind preserving and protecting Puget Sound. The Seattle Aquarium photo exhibit will help engage and inspire citizens around the region to join together to preserve this vital ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it,” says Mindy Roberts, Puget Sound Program Director for Washington Environmental Council/Washington Conservation Voters and co-author of We Are Puget Sound.

The photo exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium will present 19 striking images from the book We Are Puget Sound: Discovering and Recovering the Salish Sea (Braided River, 2019); a book that features more than 20 regional photographers and showcases the many individuals working to find meaningful solutions to protect the Puget Sound’s waters, wildlife, and the human health and economic prosperity that this region supports. The photo exhibit will run from April to August 2021. The 13 local photographers featured in the exhibit are Amy Gulick, Art Wolfe, Brandon Cole, Brian Walsh, Drew Collins, Gerrit Vyn, Glenn Nelson, Harley Soltes, Joel Rogers, Leslie Dorn, Natalie Fobes, Rob Casey, and Steve Ringman.  You can learn more about the photo exhibit at SeattleAquarium.org/exhibits/we-are-puget-sound. 

“We are thrilled to work with Washington Environmental Council and Braided River to host this inspiring photo exhibit,” said Robert W. Davidson, President and CEO of the Seattle Aquarium. “It will be a great complement to the guest experience at the Seattle Aquarium, and a tremendous support to our mission of Inspiring Conservation of our Marine Environment.”

The Puget Sound region is the lifeblood for urban and rural communities in British Columbia, Washington State, and fifty-plus Tribal Nations and First Nations that rely on economic opportunities, cultural significance, and a high quality of life defined by this rich inland sea. This astonishingly beautiful waterway surrounded by mountains and forests also supports resident and migrating marine life—notably two iconic, interdependent endangered species: Southern Resident orcas and Chinook salmon. 

But Puget Sound’s cherished natural beauty conceals its rapidly deteriorating health after a century and a half of resource extraction, pollution, habitat loss, and impacts from climate change and development. Recovering Puget Sound and the broader Salish Sea, essential for the survival of all the human, plant, and animal communities that rely upon it, requires collaboration, innovation, and a long-term commitment. 

“We’re so proud to bring forth this diverse array of images and stories that showcase it’s region’s beauty and diversity–and also inspires action to preserve it for future generations.” Says Helen Cherullo, Executive Director of Braided River. “The ‘We’ of We Are Puget Sound is all of us working together to bring our unique gifts to the table and find solutions to make the sound a healthy, intact ecosystem that all can enjoy and prosper from.”

“My involvement in We Are Puget Sound is to provide inspiration as well as a call to action to protect this unique ecosystem” adds Brian Walsh, contributing photographer.

Puget Sound is a place where freshwater streams and rivers mix with the sea. 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.

To see the We Are Puget Sound photo exhibit, plus sea otters, harbor seals, river otters, shorebirds, jellies, fish and more—in person at the Seattle Aquarium, visit SeattleAquarium.org/tickets. Open daily, 9:30am–6pm. Advance ticket purchase and masks required. 

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More about We Are Puget Sound: Discovering and Recovering the Salish Sea

We Are Puget Sound is a co-publication between Braided River and Washington Environmental Council. It’s written by journalist and editor David Workman, a communications and education director for state agencies in Washington. Contributing writers also include Leonard Forsman, chairman of the Suquamish Tribe and Dr. Mindy Roberts, Puget Sound Program Director at the Washington Environmental Council, and Brian J. Cantwell is the retired travel and outdoors editor of the Seattle Times. Learn more at WeArePugetSound.org. 

ABOUT THE CONSERVATION PARTNERS

Thank you to the many donors, including individuals, businesses, and conservation partners, whose generosity helped bring this book and exhibit to life. Partners include James Lea Foundation, Keta Legacy Foundation, Salmon Defense, Sea Grant, Woodland Park Zoo, among others. To learn more about how you can contribute to the ongoing efforts to save Puget Sound, visit BraidedRiver.org.