Interconnection

Robi Smith
Mixed media on paper
21" x 14"
Private collection

Our ocean ecosystems are fragile, wondrous and ever changing. Here, herring spawn with her eggs clinging to the eelgrass and bull kelp provides habitat for rockfish and salmon. Gray whales feed on amphipods, revealing how one of the largest mammals on the planet is dependent on some of the smallest for survival. Gray whales also connect Pacific coastal ecosystems from Baja, Mexico, to Alaska as they travel from their breeding and nursery grounds in the south to their northern feeding grounds in the summer.

The background images speak to our complex human relationships with this stretch of the ocean, from politicians making decisions in Ottawa about climate change, marine conservation areas, pipelines and offshore drilling, to our fascination with catching the biggest and most dangerous species.