North Atlantic right whales are dying faster than they can reproduce. With less than 350 remaining, these great whales rarely die of natural causes. Instead, they are run over by ships or suffer lethal injuries from fishing gear. If we don’t stop killing them, in 20 years they could be extinct.
After landing #1 at the box office, 40 North American partnership screenings, participation in 16 Worldwide Film Festivals and 28 Coastal Tour events, the award-winning documentary Last of the Right Whales will have its World Broadcast Premiere kicking off the 62nd season of CBC’s The Nature of Things on January 6th at 9:00 p.m. local (9:30 p.m. NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker, Nadine Pequeneza, Last of the Right Whales won “Best Canadian Feature” at the 2021 Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival. This powerful documentary features a remarkable group of marine biologists, whale rescuers, crab fishers and wildlife photographers, including; Charles ‘Stormy’ Mayo, Moira Brown, Kim Davies, Martin Noel, Nick Hawkins, and Barbara Zoodsma. With breathtaking footage of the majestic but rarely seen North Atlantic right whale, the film bears witness to their struggle and brings hope for their survival.
CBC’s The Nature of Things will be playing a one-hour presentation of the film.
Produced by HitPlay Productions with the participation of Telefilm Canada, in association with CBC and SWR/ARTE and with the participation of Ontario Creates, Rogers Documentary Fund, Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit.
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER:
Nadine Pequeneza
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
Nadine Pequeneza
Joanne P. Jackson
IMPACT PRODUCER:
Sholeh Fabbri
Over the past decade North Atlantic right whales have been dying at a rate of 24 per year, and now climate change is forcing these great whales further north in search of food, putting them on a collision course with deadly ships and fishing gear. With just hundreds remaining, this staggering death toll is fueling a movement to save a great whale facing extinction. Last of the Right Whales is the story of a disparate group of people – a wildlife photographer, a marine biologist, a whale rescuer, and a crab fisher – united in their cause to save the North Atlantic right whale. The film combines the 4K cinematography of a blue-chip nature film with the character-driven, vérité storytelling of a high-stakes drama. With unprecedented access to film the migration of the North Atlantic right whale from their calving ground off the coast of Florida to their new feeding area in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this feature documentary brings a message of hope about the most at-risk, great whale on the planet.
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