This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education focuses on varied, place-based relationships with the ocean (and water) across Canada and Turtle Island. It is also closely linked to the emerging relationships and socio-ecological challenges that we all face, both personally and as a society. This issue comes at an historic moment of intense global uncertainty, exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as by the effects of rapid climate change, which continue to be experienced through increasing extreme weather events, rising temperatures, melting sea ice, and biodiversity loss. This escalating upheaval has exposed more clearly the interconnections between planetary health, human health, justice, and world economies. Multiple and growing social movements (#BlackLivesMatter, #LandBack, #FridaysforFuture, etc.) continue to demand systemic transformations shaped by principles of equity, justice, and accountability. Within the broader global context and its multiple, intersecting challenges, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. However, in collective turmoil lies an opportunity: to critically examine our lives and experiences, our positionality and choices, our behaviours and actions, and our relationships with each other and with our communities. Perhaps most profoundly, there is also an opportunity to recognize and uphold the connections that fundamentally unite us, wherever we call home: the land, the water, and the ocean.