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 2024, the National Audubon Society, Tracy Aviary, and dedicated volunteers started studying how recreation is impacting the plovers. Shoreline Sentinels calls attention to these hardy birds that most people don’t even realize exist at Great Salt Lake.

How to Watch the Film

Shoreline Sentinels will premiere at the Utah Film Center in Salt Lake City on May 30, 2026! Audubon and Tracy Aviary staff and the film director will participate in a Q&A panel after the screening.  Purchase your tickets here.

Throughout the summer, the film will be screened around Great Salt Lake at other in-person events. Those screenings will be posted here as they’re scheduled. We will release the film online in late 2026.

• May 16, Farmington, Utah: Great Salt Lake Birding Festival
• May 30, Salt Lake City, Utah: Shoreline Sentinels Public Premiere
• June 20, Lee Vining, California: Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua

This film is meant to raise awareness for Snowy Plovers, Great Salt Lake, and beach-nesting shorebirds. To do that, we are offering the film free of charge to people and organizations who want to organize their own screenings.

Why Organize a Screening?

Shoreline Sentinels tells a story that shows the importance of Great Salt Lake, encourages people to share beaches with nesting birds, and demonstrates the value of people taking action to care for nature locally. If your group or organization is involved with any of these topics, this film can help your audience understand and care about them. If your organization doesn’t focus on these exactly, the film also conveys the broader importance of saline lakes, wildlife conservation, human-wildlife interactions, and volunteer efforts. Plus, it’s a film about cute birds and their babies. Who doesn’t love that?

Hosting a film screening can be a valuable and enjoyable way to engage your members or community. By gathering to watch and discuss a film, you can inform them about important issues and motivate them to take part in important efforts. And it’s relatively easy to do. This guide will walk you through how to set one up.

Acknowledgements

Shoreline Sentinels was created by the National Audubon Society in collaboration with Tracy Aviary. The film was funded by the National Audubon Society, Tracy Aviary, and an anonymous donor.