Seattle Underwater Photographer and Filmmaker Launches PLANET OCEAN

Read Planet Ocean with your children and grandchildren to begin the discussion of what humans can do to save our oceans from pollution and acidification. We are all in this together!
--Jeff Bridges, Academy Award winning actor and environmentalist

Why We All Need A Healthy Ocean

Bring awareness to the crisis our ocean is facing and change our relationship with our environment. When we help the ocean, we help ourselves. Planet Ocean is us.

PLANET OCEAN, the latest multi-media book by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Annie Crawley and author Patricia Newman, informs readers young and old about the wonders and perils facing the ocean. PLANET OCEAN inspires and encourages readers to use their imagination and take part in solving our ocean’s problems. QR code videos add an interactive storytelling dimension to the book’s text and images to show readers what happens beneath the sea. The book is getting rave reviews, Academy Award winning actor and environmentalist Jeff Bridges said, “Planet Ocean is a beautiful book. It explains the subject material in a beautiful way and the photographs are incredible. A must read with your children.”

We’ve all seen the five oceans on world maps, but the maps haven’t been telling us the whole truth. The truth is we have only one ocean and it’s the engine of our existence. Travel with ocean explorer Annie Crawley as your guide to three ocean regions – the Coral Triangle in the South Pacific; the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest; and the Arctic at the top of the world—to witness their unique connections to each other and their connections to us. Readers learn about climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, and overfishing. Meet scientists and community leaders from every region speaking up for our ocean.

Annie Crawley (aka Ocean Annie) is a Seattle based underwater photographer, author, and environmental speaker, living in Edmonds, WA. A member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame and PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, she has logged nearly 10,000 dives all over the world. Ocean Annie has documented giant pacific octopus, humpback whales in their birthing grounds, and finds home diving with whale sharks as big as a school bus. She dances with turtles, dolphins, mantas, and a sea of jellies. But she’s also witnessed alarming evidence of ocean pollution and destruction. Annie spent weeks at sea documenting the North Pacific Gyre (more commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Her work focuses on documenting and communicating the impacts of ocean pollution, sustainability, and climate change. PLANET OCEAN takes Annie’s message to a new level. Her mission: to change the way the next generation views their relationship with our ocean and gives them tools to protect it.

The ocean is responsible for more than 50% of the oxygen we breathe; contains 97% of our planet’s water; and 3 billion people rely on the protein from the sea in order to live. We protect what we love. Children are 40% of our population and 100% of our future. If we can land the rover on Mars, we can surely clean up our ocean.

–Says Annie