New director dives into Sound Water Stewards
Published 1:30 am Friday, September 19, 2025
By LUISA LOI
Special to the News-Times
A Whidbey-based filmmaker and underwater photographer has emerged to lead an army of citizen scientists protecting the county’s 196 miles of shoreline.
Florian Graner, a German-American who has been residing on South Whidbey since 2006, is Sound Water Stewards’ new executive director, according to a press release shared by the nonprofit on Sept. 8.
While he can often be seen diving off the shore of his Beverly Beach neighborhood or exploring numerous underwater landscapes around the county and the world, Graner’s name might ring a bell among nature enthusiasts from Whidbey and beyond as it appears in the credits of various wildlife documentaries broadcast by the BBC, Disney, Netflix, Amazon and more.
Along with his wife Gina Truesdell, Graner is in charge of Sealife Productions, a company he founded over 30 years ago to turn his underwater photography hobby into a career.
His most recent film, “Orcas — Life in Black and White,” was shown at the Clyde Theater in Langley in May. In this award-winning documentary, Graner — who specializes in marine mammals — dives into the culture and matriarchal system that characterizes resident and transient orcas in the Salish Sea, as well as the impact of humans on their survival.
Now that he has put the executive director hat on, Graner said he is committed to working for Sound Water Stewards full-time, getting the camera rolling when he’s free.
Graner developed a relationship with the nonprofit back when it was known as Island County Beach Watchers and filmed volunteers at work. In 2018, he was chosen as a keynote speaker for Sound Waters University, a yearly fundraiser and series of educational sessions focused on the Salish Sea.
The new job is another opportunity to put his Ph.D. in marine biology into use and further connect with the local community.
“One thing I always noticed is that Whidbey Island attracts an incredible amount of really skilled and educated, talented people,” he said. “The amount of talent, willingness and enthusiasm you meet here is unmatched.”
Many of these community members are drawn to Sound Water Stewards, where they train to become citizen scientists and devote at least 50 hours of volunteer time around the county, according to the nonprofit’s member training webpage.
According to Allie Hudec, Sound Water Stewards’ coordinator for Whidbey, the organization relies on roughly 490 volunteers working on Whidbey and Camano.
While his goals align with the nonprofit’s, Graner said, he plans to further collaborate with local universities, increase community outreach and ensure volunteers get more recognition for their work, especially considering it can be difficult to recruit folks who can commit so much time to Sound Waters’ mission.
“We put like around 20,000 volunteer hours into various projects,” he said. “We are a very giving organization.”
Citizen scientists have a total of 27 active projects to choose from at different times of the year. They can collect stormwater samples at different outfalls in the Oak Harbor area to help scientists collect pollution data, monitor the presence of the invasive European green crab, assess forage fish spawning habitats to support salmon restoration efforts, keep track of indicator species like the pigeon guillemot, clean up beaches and much more.
Sound Water Stewards also collaborates with various organizations to deliver their programs, including beach clean-up days with Washington State University’s Whidbey extension and education programs with State Parks, Hudec wrote in an email.
To Hudec, who graduated from Sound Water Stewards’ training program in 2019, volunteering is an opportunity to meet like-minded people who are passionate about the Salish Sea and the natural world, but also to experience some wholesome reactions.
“I just love to see that moment when something clicks for someone. Suddenly those little barnacles that cut your feet at the beach become a cool animal that has an incredible journey to get to that rock that you’re standing on,” she wrote. “There is so much to discover right here in front of us, and I enjoy being part of that adventure for people.”
Community members can learn more about volunteer opportunities or make a donation at soundwaterstewards.org, or attend an upcoming public event.
On Oct. 18, Sound Water Stewards will attend the Orca Recovery Day at the Langley Whale Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Whidbey Camano Land Trust’s Keystone Preserve in Coupeville, Hudec wrote.
Sound Waters University is taking place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2026 at Coupeville High School, with field trips available the next day, according to information shared by Hudec. This year’s theme is “Tracing Life through the Salish Sea,” and will feature Graner and Elin Kelsey as keynote speakers.
