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"The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest" combines a scientist's inquiring mind, breathtaking nature photography and wondrous stories. Straddling the western border between Canada and the United States, the unique ecosystem of the is brought to life on the page with a lively narrative that looks at the region’s geology, fauna, and history.

Authors Audrey DeLella Benedict and Joseph Gaydos will speak about the book .

This event is part of the bookstore's Nature of Writing series, in partnership with North Cascades Institute, and is co-sponsored by the Marine Resources Committee of Whatcom County and Lummi Island Wild.

Audrey DeLella Benedict is a biologist, a writer, and a 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. She 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.

Joseph K. 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 doctorate in wildlife health. For over a decade he has been studying the fish and wildlife of the Salish Sea.

For more about the Salish Sea, visit http://www.wwu.edu/salishsea/, a website created and maintained by Bert Webber, the retired ²ÝÁñÉçÇø professor who .