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

See Full Page