New documentary aims to save critically-endangered right whales

Filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza hopes her new documentary Last of the Right Whales can bring a message of hope that they can still be saved.

A new documentary to be shown in B.C. Wednesday night aims to highlight a group of whales facing extinction.

There are only an estimated 336 North Atlantic right whales left in the wild, an eight per cent decrease from 2019, according to The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza hopes her new documentary Last of the Right Whales can bring a message of hope that they can still be saved.

Pequeneza said their plight is largely human-caused.

“So, ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement,” she said. “These whales don’t die of natural causes anymore because we just don’t allow them to live out their lives.”

Climate change also plays a role in their demise, Pequeneza explained, forcing the whales further north into areas that don’t have protection measures in place.

She would like to see speed restrictions in place and fishing zones closed when the whales are present.

“Trying to find ways to reduce that risk, the interaction between that fixed gear and whales is really important,” Pequeneza said.