When Norm Hann awoke, the sea was glassy smooth.
The tall, green Douglas fir forests rooted on Kunghit Island and puffy, white clouds that hung low in the vast blue sky were mirrored on Burnaby Narrows. It was one of those magical B.C. days, Hann said.
The air that wafted by his face with every stroke of his paddle was crispy fresh. His lungs filled with the scent of the coastline; the faint salty, musty smell of seaweed. Below his paddleboard, Hann could peer down 40 feet into the ocean's depths. Communities of purple and red sea urchins carpeted rocky outcrops. Here and there, orange sunflower seastars dotted the floor bottom. Life thrived.
Surrounded by the rhythmic swishes of his paddle slicing through the water, Hann glided through the watery pathway with 60 kilometres ahead of him. Hann was focused. He was on a mission.
We have one of the most amazing coastlines and ecosystems in the world, the 撸奶社区resident said.
Three years ago, Hann picked up his 14-foot paddleboard and embarked on a 10-day, 400-kilometre expedition from Kitimat to Bella Bella. His route followed the oil tanker shipping line that would service the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline a project slated to pump bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to the ocean port at Kitimat. The journey was documented as a way to raise awareness about the extraordinary wildlife and First Nations culture that would be threatened by a potential oil spill, Hann said.
The Great Bear Rainforest in the fall, it is like the Canadian Serengeti, he said.
Last year, Hann was back at it again, this time paddling 350 kilometres along the east coast of Haida Gwaii. The three-week journey took him from Old Masset, in the north, to SGang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage site at the southern tip of the island.
I wanted to show a different part [of the area], Hann said.
His latest documentary, Stand, visits Haida watch sites along the coastline, historic villages maintained by First Nations. He also meets up with First Nations students in Bella Bella, who made their own paddleboarders in woodworking class, an initiative spurred on by Hann's 2010 trip.
Hann's paddling adventurers were envisioned by First Nations long before he ever stepped on a board, he said. Thirteen years ago, the northern Ontario native worked as a guide at King Pacific Lodge in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. He become a part of the tiny Hartley Bay community, a village made up of approximately 180 Gitga'at First Nation members. There, he coached basketball and later taught at the school.
They gave me the name T'aamlaan, which means steersman of the canoe.
It was an honour, he said, which Hann felt came with a responsibility.
I needed to give back to that experience, he said.
And so his journey began. It's a long way from over, Hann said. Canadians are slowly waking to the treasure they have at their doorstep. He hopes his documentaries will inspire others to do what they can to save the coastal wilderness.
I think a lot of times there is that feeling of not knowing what you have in your own backyard, he said.
Stand will be screened on Tuesday (June 18), at the Eagle Eye Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and are available at the door or before hand at Escape Route, 40222 Glenalder Place.
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