Screenings at the Sanctuary: Great Lakes Now program to have ongoing showings at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Visitors to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center will be able to view new episodes of Great Lakes Now under a new partnership between the Detroit Public Television initiative and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Starting in February, the Sanctuary Visitor’s Center will begin free showings of each half-hour show. Launched in April 2019, the Great Lakes Now program is produced in collaboration with public television stations and other media outlets.

Watch “Wrecks Within Reach,” the Great Lakes Now segment about the sanctuary.

The program, like the website, covers recreational, scientific, political, economic, and cultural issues and aspects of the Great Lakes and water quality topics. The program has aired on several PBS affiliates in 20 cities around the region.

“This new partnership connects the sanctuary to the broader Great Lakes,” said Jeff Gray, the sanctuary superintendent. “It’s a perfect opportunity to bring the integrity and quality programming of public broadcasting to sanctuary visitors and Alpena residents.”

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s system of underwater protected areas across the United States and American Samoa. Based in Alpena, the sanctuary visitor center attracts nearly 100,000 visitors annually.

The Sanctuary and Great Lakes Now staff announced the partnership during the Thunder Bay International Film Festival, which included several Great Lakes Now productions in the lineup – watch HERE.

Great Lakes Now Host Ward Detwiler and Program Director Sandra Svoboda spoke at the festival’s gala opening and mingled with audiences.

“As a public broadcasting initiative, part of our Great Lakes Now mission is to share our work with audiences and partners,” said Great Lakes Now Program Director Sandra Svoboda. “Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a great site for our work. Visitors are interested in the lakes, and our program will always give them new information and a new perspective on the issues related to the waters.”

Great Lakes Now contributing producers Zachary Irving, of Alpena, and David Ruck, of Muskegon, also spoke to festival audiences, and Michigan state Rep. Sue Allor (R-Wolverine) joined Svoboda for an audience discussion about “The Forever Chemicals,” the Great Lakes Now documentary about the ongoing effects of PFAS contamination in a west Michigan community.

Featured Image: David Ruck, of Great Lakes Outlier Media, speaks about his Great Lakes Now piece, “Sinkhole Science,” at the 2020 Thunder Bay International Film Festival. Photo by Sandra Svoboda.