The water is a gradient of colour from pale mint to a deep viridian blue-green. It’s teeming with life. Large tangles of bull kelp are affixed to tall stands, creating a pathway from the ocean floor to the surface. They sway and rock with the tides, enveloping our group of freedivers. Without scuba tanks, we are able to explore with ease, slipping effortlessly through the kelp. When the rocking of the tide slows, I can hear the faint songs of a distant orca pod. We are in killer whale territory. These Salish Sea kelp forests are a hot spot of biodiversity. They act as a support system for the marine life the reside here. They connect and tie together every species from the tiniest neon nudibranchs, to the great orcas.

Without the use of compressed air, I can swim from the heaping kelp tangle on the surface, soaring down the stock to the holdfast root network, and back up in a matter of seconds without decompression. My breath hold connects me to the ecosystem, seemingly bringing me one step closer to becoming a sea creature myself. It keeps me humble, reminding me that I am still a mammal, just like the harbour seals that move with silent stealth under water despite their great size.

The San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington boast an incredibly biodiverse habitat. Shoals of glistening silver herring move uniformly together as if controlled by a singular brain. As I swim towards them, the group shifts in an instant, anticipating my movement. Sunlight reflects off their scales as the group makes its way up to the surface. These herring are a key piece of the food web, feeding the different species of salmon, which in turn feed the orcas.