Dive to sea floor, climb peaks of regional volcanoes

After being sidelined by COVID-19 in 2020, the popular Friends of the Salish Sea lecture series is back on the big screen in Anacortes.

Florian Graner, world-renowned diver, biologist and cinematographer, kicks off Lecture Series 2.0 with “Beneath the Salish Sea,” 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15. Graner enthralled a lecture series audience in 2012.

Graner is the founder of Sealife Productions, a wildlife documentary production company. A Ph.D. marine biologist specializing in marine mammals, he brings extensive subject knowledge to his cinematography.

His wide-ranging credits include the Monterey Bay episode of the Netflix series, “Our Great National Parks,” narrated by Barack Obama; two seasons of Animal Planet’s “River Monsters with Jeremy Wade;” CBC’s “Wild Canadian Year;” BBC’s “Pacific Abyss,” “Amazon Abyss” and “The Blue Planet;” and National Geographic’s “America’s National Parks: Olympic” for a German documentary company.

A good idea catches fire

The lecture series originated in 2005 as a class project in the Washington State University Beach Watchers program, an eight-week curriculum that trained citizen scientists and volunteers to support marine and near-shore ecosystems.

Recognizing the public’s keen interest in the local marine environment, class members launched the lecture series to connect a knowledge-hungry public with regional experts on environmentally oriented topics. Responsibility for the annual lecture series was assumed in 2014 by Friends of Skagit Beaches, a local nonprofit, when WSU ended its sponsorship.

In 2006, 80 people showed up at the Anacortes Public Library to attend the first lecture, a historical and cultural look at “The Changing Shorelines of Fidalgo Island,” given by Russel Barsh of the Kwiaht-Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea.

The rest of the series:

Jan. 17, 2025, Cynthia Gardner, “Our Regional ­Volcanoes.”

Feb. 21, Tim Carpenter, “The Giant Pacific Octopus.”

March 21, John Calambokidis, “Pacific Gray Whales.”

Lectures are at 7 p.m. at the Northwest Educational Service District, 1601 R Ave., Anacortes. More at ­friendsofsalishsea.org/lecture-series.

Submitted by: Friends of the Salish Sea