Watershed Sentinels
A Conservation Photography Project
Immersive visual stories of plants and animals. Sound recordings. Naturalist notes and general nerding out. Virtual romps to woods and waterfalls. Long paddles down slow creeks. Salamanders. Sassy birds. Binoculars. Cameras. Let’s explore the wilderness and wild things that thrive inside, alongside, and thanks to…
Watersheds
From ridge-top creeks to swift rivers cutting through conifer forests, to tidal marshes, estuaries and bays, and finally out to the depths of the Pacific ocean, the flow of water connects habitats that are seemingly independent of one another, and connects humans to wildlife in unexpected ways.
Watershed Sentinels
is a wild (and often haphazard) conservation visual storytelling romp exploring the places, spaces and species connected by the flow of water in the Pacific Northwest.
And you’re invited.
Species share surprising stories. A robin-sized seabird tells us about the effects of logging practices far inland. An ancient jawless fish informs us about the impacts from dams hundreds of miles up river. A giant salamander that reaches over 13 inches in length quietly keeps tabs on the ebb and flow of silt in streams running through conifer forests.
The biographies of species contain threads so long and intricate that suddenly the number of small fish living near our shores and the width of boughs on centuries-old trees are two key elements of a single plot line. Following these plot lines illuminates our own dependence upon a healthy local ecosystem.
When you stop to watch a dipper dip, or a Coho salmon make its way up stream, or a dragonfly hover at the stream edge, you’re seeing the past, present and future of our decisions, and of our story.
This space is for us to chase curiosity. To ask silly questions. Wonder out loud. Enjoy pretty things. Watch critters be critters.
As an ongoing conservation visual storytelling project, we’ll enjoy the wild plot unfolding and notice how we’re wrapped up in it, often in ways we can’t even begin to guess at. And often in ways that show us how to make healthier decisions for ourselves, our wild neighbors and our watersheds.