A New Brunswick filmmaker has gone to great depths to create awareness about a topic that is dear to his heart: the health of Canada’s freshwater ecosystems.
“I knew ever since I was a kid that I wanted to explore freshwater ecosystems,” said Harrison Burton who recently released a film he wrote and produced called “Expedition Nictau” that explores the wonders lying beneath one of New Brunswick’s remote lakes and is available for viewing on Vimeo.
Having grown up fishing and playing in around the water, Harrison said his concerns over the health of Canada’s freshwater ecosystems has grown to such depths that he now wants to shine a light on the need for more research into the quality of Canada’s lakes, including those in New Brunswick.
“Just to see if the public interest can get a bit more involved in supporting the science required to make sure these systems are maintained and studied,” said Burton.
Julien Bourque was Burton’s diving partner on the project that was shot in the spring of 2021.
“What we are hoping is that it takes only one person to see this and take it to the next step,” he said.
Burton is encouraging all levels of government to invest more in studying and preserving Canada’s vast number of freshwater lakes.
Coling Forsythe is the executive director of the Belleisle Watershed Coalition. While he said that the film does not draw any scientific conclusions, he applauds Burton’s drive to create awareness around a topic which needs more exploration.
“We need to do a lot more research on freshwater aquatic research and into pollution and conservation of that,” said Forsythe.
Forsythe would also like to see the research currently underway in individual provinces fall under a national microscope.
“I think we really need a Canada water agency that would be a federal body,” he said.
Harrison says his subsurface storytelling is meant to start a conversation, as he prepares to seek funding to produce more films and submerge his camera in more lakes across Canada.
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