The stories start when a boy who loves photography listens to a talk by National Geographic explorers Sylvia Earle and Bob Ballard. He says, This will be my life's work - to tell the story of the ocean. The boy, named Brian Skerry, does just that through more than 20 articles for ''NG magazine''. Twenty years later, his book, ''Ocean Soul'', will be the ultimately stunning photographic portrait of the ocean as a place of mystery, as a place in trouble, and as a place of hope that will rebound with amazing ease as boundaries are set and observed. This lavish exhibition of imagery with compelling stories brings an intimate and unforgettable portrait of all ocean environments and of four key creatures who are poster children for the health of the world's oceans (the shark, the right whale, the leatherback turtle, and the harp seal) - and ultimately our own health. Within each chapter there will be a section profiling one of the four featured sea creatures. In his lyrical pictures as well as words, Brian Skerry backs into the science of our failing environment by compelling us to love it.