Wednesday, January 8, 7 p.m., Sea View Theatre
— from Justin Cox for SeaDoc Society —
On Wednesday, January 8 head out to the Sea View Theatre for a free movie about salmon, killer whales, and the four lower Snake River dams. As part of the SeaDoc Society’s and Camp Orkila’s Ocean Night series, there will be a screening of the award-winning film, Dammed to Extinction, which looks at the role of the four lower Snake River dams as they relate to the plight of Southern Resident Killer Whales.
Ocean Night is a monthly series of free movies and live events at the Sea View Theatre on the first Wednesday of each month. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event starts at 7 p.m. At the January event, the audience will be treated to a live never-before-seen TED Talk prior to the screening. After the 50-minute film, there will be a panel featuring film makers Michael Peterson and Steven Hawley, as well as Deborah Giles, a San Juan Island resident who is Science and Research Director for Wild Orca.
Southern Resident Killer Whales hunt chinook salmon along the Pacific Coast of the United States for survival. As salmon numbers have plummeted, this one-of-a-kind killer whale species has followed, leaving only 73 of them in existence. That, combined with increased underwater noise and harmful human toxins have threatened Southern Residents with extinction.
“The best opportunity that we have to get more fish into the water for these whales to be able to find is to breach the lower four Snake River dams,” said Dr. Giles in the film’s trailer.
There will be copies of the film available for purchase at the event.
The SeaDoc Society and Camp Orkila are able to make this a free event thanks to donations from Dean and Audrey Stupke, Jim and Kathy Youngren, Barbara Brown, Barbara Bentley, Kathy Dickinson, West Sound Marina, The Averna Family (Deer Harbor Charters), Madrona Inn Bar & Grill, Shearwater Kayak Tours, San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, and all who supported SeaDoc Society through the Orcas Island Community Foundation.
