Shoreline Sentinels
of Great Salt Lake

Shoreline Sentinels of Great Salt Lake is a 17-minute film about the plight of Snowy Plovers, a small shorebird that nests on the busy shores of Great Salt Lake. This is home to the largest non-coastal breeding population of western Snowy Plovers, but their nesting area overlaps with the most heavily used part of the lake. In 2023, the National Audubon Society, Tracy Aviary, and dedicated volunteers started studying how recreation is impacting the plovers. I created this film for the National Audubon Society as a tool to help reduce nest failures by building awareness of and empathy for the plovers by introducing local viewers to them through the eyes of the passionate people working to protect them.

Key to this strategy is screening the film in the communities around Great Salt Lake. In May 2026, Audubon and Tracy Aviary premiered the film in Salt Lake City. Other organizations are currently planning and hosting more screenings around Great Salt Lake. You can find a list of screenings and request to host your own here. The film will be published on YouTube in late 2026.