The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will host a free evening with author and ocean environmental leader David Helvarg from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 9.

Join a cadre of local environmental nonprofits, including Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, the Ty Warner Sea Center, the Ocean Futures Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Ocean Conservancy, Save the Mermaids, the Origami Whales Project and more for information about Santa Barbara ocean-related issues and a discussion about Helvarg’s new book, Saved by the Sea: A Love Story with Fish.

Local marine biologist and naturalist Holly Lohuis of Ocean Futures will introduce Helvarg. A book signing will follow the discussion.

Helvarg and Lohuis are passionate about how the ocean has touched their lives, and how care of the oceans affects Santa Barbara. Space is limited at Wednesday’s event and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Helvarg is president of the Blue Frontier Campaign, whose mission is to promote unity, provide tools to and raise awareness of the solution-oriented marine conservation community, and the author of five books. He worked as a war correspondent in Northern Ireland and Central America, covering a range of issues from military science to the AIDS epidemic, and reported from every continent including Antarctica.

An award-winning journalist, he produced more than 40 broadcast documentaries. He’s also done radio work. He’s led workshops for journalists in Poland, Turkey, Tunisia, Slovakia and Washington, D.C. He is a licensed private investigator, body surfer and scuba diver.

The event is coordinated by Channelkeeper, Choose to Reuse, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the “Where’s Your Bag?” campaign.

— Celeste Carlisle is an outreach coordinator for the City of Santa Barbara Environmental Services Division.