Canaries of the Coast is a short film produced by Viggo Henelius and directed by Arian Tomar. The film was entered in the 2021 Let’s Talk About Water Youth Film Festival and highlights how human activity is destroying the marine ecosystems on the Salish Sea. As the global climate continues to warm, ecosystems like eel grass meadows will continue to disappear. These ecosystems are vital to drawing out carbon dioxide and support a wealth of life. Additionally, human impacts like overfishing have contributed to the decline of orca populations.

Having the honor of being able to study at Pearson College UWC on the ancestral territories of the Scia’new Beecher Bay First Nation comes with a responsibility to educate ourselves on the struggles tied to the land. At times we can take our beautiful location for granted and forget how drastically our activity is impacting these ecosystems. This project sought to educate and raise awareness of the concerns facing our local environments. Going forward, Viggo and I hope to get closer to finding ways of resolving the issues around water health in Pedder Bay, like creating a sustainability initiative with the local marina to evaluate how much the marina’s activities are disrupting the bay.

We hope our project inspires youth to consider their relationship with the land around them and to take responsibility for keeping local ecosystems healthy.

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I also entered the film into the 2021 Student Innovation Challenge, created in partnership between Take a Stand for Conservation and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. The challenge seeks to give youth a platform to showcase their innovative ideas and inspiring projects that promote eduction, stewardship and conservation of the local wildlife, habitats, and Indigenous cultures of coastal British Columbia and the transboundary Pacific Northwest.

I'm happy to announce that we won first prize in the Student Innovation Challenge!

Update:
We won second place in the Let's Talk About Water International Youth Film Festival!

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