Ocean Walls – Captivating People, Keeping the Wild Free
Ocean Walls, which debuts November 8 at Victoria’s Hillside Centre, will open a window into the Pacific Ocean without stepping outside to do so. The concept of Ocean Walls is a digital interactive medium that allows people to share their personal encounters with the wild by taking the online world into the real world of public spaces like shopping centres.
Chris Porter, one of the creators of Ocean Walls, wants to focus more on our activities and technologies to be deployed in the wild to monitor and share the direct condition of the ocean in real time. By getting more of the public to learn about what is happening to our ocean through direct interaction, it is his hope that viewers will take greater ownership and responsibility to ensure direct action.
Chris is no stranger to cetaceans and our oceans. He got his start as a trainer at Sealand of the Pacific where he worked with Tilikum, the infamous killer whale highlighted in the film Blackfish. Later he became senior trainer at Vancouver Aquarium. Following his work at Vancouver Aquarium, he was one of the leading dolphin traders in the captivity industry, capturing dolphins in the Solomon Islands. In the mid-2000s, Chris came under fire for his work in the trade and left the Solomon Islands, leaving behind the dolphin export business as well.
For the past 5 years, after 25 years in the captivity industry, Chris has become an activist for marine mammals. He has always loved dolphins, and now has come to see the beauty of dolphins in their own waters. Last year, he was featured in the film Blackfish where he shares his experiences with Tilikum. He has also made several other public appearances to share his story and bring awareness to captive cetaceans and the plight of our oceans. He is frustrated that the millions of dollars being spent on aquariums does not solve the wild conservation issues and initiatives that need to be funded. Ocean Walls will bring the current state of our ocean and it’s inhabitants to the forefront of the public eye, reaching a greater audience with a variety of backgrounds and interests.
WildVision is accepting new videos from the public to be displayed, and footage will be updated regularly. Videos will run for various lengths of time. In the next year, plans are underway to bring in experts to talk about issues affecting the marine environment to further the educational experience. The hope is to expand into other venues such as spas, hotel lobbies, and schools. If you have videos to submit, you can contact them on any social media site using the hashtag #OceanWalls.
OceanWalls… Captivating People, Keeping the Wild Free!
It is time to lay the myth to rest that people cannot be happy unless the real thing is in front of them.
