Three Waters, a documentary film by Scott Parent

On a long-distance paddle with his daughter in 2019, filmmaker/photographer Scott Parent didn’t bargain on the amount of plastic they would encounter.

Alongside nine-year-old Acadia on a tandem SUP, Parent paddled the length of Lake Huron from Bootaagani-minis (Drummond Island), Michigan to Penetanguishene, Ontario, collecting water samples for microplastics research.

Inspired by the historic migration of 1828, when Anishinaabek and mixed families living at Bootaagani-minis were displaced and dispersed across the region, many of whom voyaged by canoe and bateau to Penetanguishene, ON. The duo retraced the route their ancestors followed generations ago, along a present day pilgrimage for microplastics research. 

“In almost every one of the 45 samples analyzed, plastics were present—mostly in the form of fibres, but also fragments and film,” says Parent. “Those arduous deep-water samples proved the presence of microplastics in the water column at depths of 50 feet in some channels. We found garbage, styrofoam or plastic at every single stop we made.”

Parent’s film Three Waters documents the trip.