Oil tankers, the hidden threat on the Salish Sea

When I first set out to create Beyond the Salish Sea, my goal was simple, perhaps even poetic: to trace the profound relationship between people and place. The Salish Sea was the stage—a breathtaking marine ecosystem that spans Washington and British Columbia, home to the Southern Resident killer whales, Indigenous cultures, and a way of life under threat.

At the heart of the story were orcas, salmon, and our vanishing connection to wildness.

As I dove deeper

But as I dove deeper into the interviews, the boat rides, the research, and the water itself, a different current began to tug at me. I realized that while we were filming stories of belonging and environmental degradation, another tale was slicing through the center of it all a story of crude oil.

Through conversations with policy experts, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and residents, it became clear: the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is not just a pipeline issue in Alberta. It is a Salish Sea issue. The completed project triples the flow of oil through the pipeline and increases tanker traffic by over 600%—from one tanker every few days to one every day. These are not ordinary oil shipments. Most carry diluted bitumen, a heavy crude oil with devastating consequences if spilled. Currently, there is no proven method for cleaning up this type of oil in marine environments.

The pivot

I knew then: Beyond the Salish Sea had to pivot. The stakes were too high to ignore.

Our film is no longer just about beauty or loss—it’s about warning. It’s about protection. It’s about urgency. We’ve reframed the story as Beyond the Salish Sea: Crude Truth, because the truth is no longer hiding. It’s just been ignored.

This doesn’t mean we’ve abandoned our roots. The emotional center remains—the sense of place, the generational love for water, the orcas, and the salmon. But now, those elements are contrasted with a hard reality: a fossil fuel corridor is being carved through one of North America’s most ecologically rich waterways. The Salish Sea is becoming a global fossil fuel freeway disguised as a sanctuary.

I’ve often been told this project has the heart of a love letter. But a love letter doesn’t have to be soft. Sometimes it’s a plea. Sometimes it’s a warning. Sometimes it’s a rally cry.

If you care about clean water, climate change, Indigenous sovereignty, or the future of coastal communities, this story is yours too.

Let’s confront the crude truth—together.