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A newsletter from Ms. Deirdre Brennan to the sponsors of the movie "Lost At Sea"
Happy New Year!
As we begin 2012, I am happy to report that there is a strong sense of momentum building for "Lost At Sea" from our sponsors, the many scientists who have committed their time and expertise, advocates of salmon preservation, anglers and our many Facebook followers. Thank you all for your interest and support. I would like to update you on the film - our accomplishments in 2011 and plans for 2012. Last year we filmed on location in three different countries for a total of over 28 days from May through June.
Sponsor News:
We are pleased to announce that The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) has partnered with the project and along with the Miramichi Salmon Association, funded and contributed significantly to our Canadian work.
Our partnership with ASF,led by the enthusiastic advice and publicity from its president, Bill Taylor is a great vote of confidence in the project. Canada's JD Irving Corporation gave significant “in-kind” contributions that enabled us to capture stunning aerial views of the great Miramichi River and the Bay of Fundy. Jim Leonard, angling visitor to the Miramichi, supported us. Joe & Lee Hudson and Lax-á, Iceland's premier sporting outfitter, sponsored our dramatic Iceland shoot.
On the European side, the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) of Ireland became a sponsor last fall.
These partners join our current contributors, the Charles Engelhard Foundation, and our fiscal sponsor The Ocean Foundation, that enable our American contributors to make tax deductible contributions to Lost At Sea.
2012 Goals:
Our goal is to complete filming in 2012, going to the edit room in the fall. This year will take our cameras out to the ocean - off the coast of Labrador and Nova Scotia, to the rich feeding grounds around Greenland, the top of the salmon’s migration, around the Faroes where the European one-sea winter salmon go to feed, and the coastal waters around Iceland. Our aim is to show some of the latest findings about what is happening in the ocean that is causing the increasing mortality of salmon in their ocean environment.
We will also explore the realm of Atlantic salmon on the opposite side of the ocean, filming on rivers in the west of Ireland, the highlands of Scotland & the fjords of Norway, and it’s majestic Vosso and the Gaula rivers.
Filming in 2011
Canada
Miramichi:
We were hosted once again by Mark Hambrook of the Miramichi Salmon Association where we returned this year to film salmon in the river, smolts and spawning striped bass – a recent and serious threat to migrating smolts in this river.
As mentioned above, JD Irving provided one of their company helicopters. Rick was able to get stunning aerial shots of the deep canyons on the upper Miramichi, and shots of the river as it opens up and empties in the estuary and bay.
Saint Andrews:
In St. Andrews Bill Taylor hosted us at the ASF headquarters and we filmed scientist Jonathan Carr on the Magaguadavic River where he has monitored the effect of escaped farmed salmon on their wild cousins. Cooke aquaculture invited us to visit one of their sites where we filmed underwater in a net pen. JD Irving’s helicopter met us once again and we filmed the aquaculture sites in the Bay of Fundy from the air.
North America
Penobscot River:
Andy Goode, director of US programs for ASF, was our host and guide on the Penobscot River in Maine. We filmed the power of the massive Veazie dam – an impossible feat for any salmon to get over – and a thrilling sequence with salmon biologists suspended in a metal cage over the dam to rescue salmon from the trap in the middle of the river in order to release them upstream. These are a few of the last remaining population of wild Atlantic salmon population left in the US. Lighthawk provided a fixed-wing plane and where we filmed the dams from the air. One of the dams will be coming down this year, opening the way for returning salmon to migrate. This is a project of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust.
Iceland:
In July we headed to the Shangri-la for salmon and salmon anglers – Iceland! Icelandic Air flew our gear at no cost. Our first stop was the pristine Haffjadara River, privately owned by 2 partners. Our Texan friends and hosts, Joe & Lee Hudson, had invited us last year when we were all guests of Susan and Roy O’Connor at historic Lorne cottage on the Cascapedia River. We spent 3 days on the Haffjadara. Our guide, Iggy Helgason brought us to the crystal clear pools where Rick filmed stunning sequences of huge numbers of salmon. The volcanic landscape gave us a dramatic sense of the beginning of time. I met owner Ottar Ingvarsson in Reykjavik where he outlined the fascinating history of this river.
Árni Baldursson,, the owner of Iceland’s largest angling and travel company, Lax-á, was our host and guide throughout the rest of Iceland. We spent 10 days traveling around the country to some of the most spectacular rivers and prehistoric landscapes. We had come to Iceland to film primordial nature – the living planet of volcanos, ancient lava formations, spectacular waterfalls and glaciars. This is what rivers looked like in Europe and North America before the Industrial Revolution took its toll. We filmed the massive Gullfoss (Golden Waterfall) in the southwest and then drove up through the lunar landscape that cuts through the middle of the country where we filmed on the Hofsjökull glaciar. We met Orri Vigfusson, a tireless champion for salmon, on the Big Laxa River where he told us about his North Atlantic Salmon Fund that has saved millions of salmon from drift nets. Rick and I were interviewed on RÚV, Iceland’s national broadcaster. We were all enchanted by the beauty of Iceland.
Other News:
- In the fall, scientists gathered at two conferences to share information about salmon at sea and reveal their findings:
*The Salmon Summit was held in La Rochelle, France in October.
* The Ocean’s Silver conference was held in London in December
- Rick gave a presentation at the Metepenagiag Heritage Center, to the local community while we were filming on the Miramichi river. Titled “Encounters in the Open Ocean” the audience was riveted as Rick showed amazing footage of marlin, sailfish, whales & dolphins. We also gave a “sneak preview” of what we were filming on the Miramichi. You can see this article on the Press page of the film’s website. www.atlanticsalmonlostatsea.net
- I made a presentation about the film to the board of ASF at the University Club at their November meeting.
- We start off the New Year with a lead story about the film in the latest edition of Atlantic Salmon Federation journal, written by the editor, Martin Silverstone with whom we traveled thru Iceland. http://asf.ca/articles.php?id=44 .
- His second story in the same magazine, about fishing in Iceland, covered the film as well. http://www.asf.ca/articles.php?id=42
We are thrilled to be written about in such a prestigious publication.
Conclusion:
We look forward to an exciting and challenging year as we continue our journey through the kingdom of the Atlantic salmon and the quest to solve the mystery of why so many are Lost at Sea!
Thank you for your support!
Deirdre Brennan
Producer
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