Leo, an animated fish, hosts a show called "Fish Talk with Leo."

Leo swims over the seafloor and says IT'S
FISH TALK
WITH LEO!
THAT'S RIGHT. IT'S ME, LEO!
INTERVIEWING THE EXPERTS AND
TAKING YOU BEHIND THE SCENES
OF ALL THE AMAZING WORK THAT'S
HAPPENING AT PARKS CANADA.
SEE THAT PLANT? THOSE REEDS
SWAYING IN THE WIND?
THEY MAY SEEM ALL INNOCENT...
BUT THAT'S PHRAGMITES!
AND IT'S AN INVASIVE PLANT
TAKING OVER OUR WETLANDS.
FORTUNATELY, THE TEAM FROM PARKS
CANADA IS HELPING
TO GET RID OF THIS PLANT BULLY.

An animated map shows the location of the Georgian Bay Islands National Park, in Ontario.

Leo looks at a TV screen and says HEY LAURA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

A caption reads "Laura Baldwick. Georgian Bay Islands National Park. Project Coordinator."

Laura is in her thirties, with long straight light brown hair and wears a fishing wader.

In the wetlands, Laura says I'M JUST OUT HERE MAPPING
PHRAGMITES.

Leo says WHAT EXACTLY IS PHRAGMITES?

Laura says THIS HERE IS THE ARCHENEMY
OF WETLANDS.
IT'S AN INVASIVE PLANT. SO THE
PATCHES CAN GROW QUITE DENSE,
AND THE ROOTS CAN EVEN RELEASE
A TOXIN INTO THE SOIL
WHICH PREVENTS OTHER NATIVE
PLANTS FROM GROWING
IN THE WETLAND.

Leo says HOLY CRAYFISH!
THAT'S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT!
HOW DOES THAT HELP YOU FIGURE
OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS
WETLAND BULLY?

Laura says WELL, WITH A COMBINATION OF
DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT,
WE USE A HANDHELD GPS UNIT
TO MAP THE BOUNDARY OF THE PATCH
AND THEN WE TAKE A BUNCH
OF MEASUREMENTS
OF THE PHRAGMITES ITSELF,
THE HEIGHT OF IT,
AS WELL AS DOING A
DENSITY CHECK.

The caption changes to "GPS: Global positioning system."

Laura says SO WE COUNT HOW MANY STEMS ARE
IN ONE SQUARE METRE.

Leo says SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL
THE INFORMATION?

Kaura says SO ONCE WE'VE COLLECTED
ALL THE INFORMATION,
AND WE HAVE THE HEIGHTS
AND THE DENSITY
AND WE KNOW EXACTLY THE SIZE
OF THE PATCH,
I TAKE THIS INTO TINA, AND SHE'S
OUR GEOMATICS COORDINATOR,
AND SHE HELPS ME PUT ALL THIS
DATA TOGETHER
SO THAT IT'S ALL CLEAN, AND WE
CAN DECIDE WHICH PATCHES
ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO
TACKLE FIRST.

Leo says WHAT THE HECK IS "GEOMATICS?"

Laura says SO SHE WORKS WITH A LOT OF
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
SYSTEMS,
WHICH IS JUST A FANCY WORD FOR
SAYING GOOGLE MAPS.

Leo says WELL, THAT SOUNDS PRETTY
FIN-TASTIC!
BUT I'M NOT QUITE SURE HOW
ALL THIS WORKS.
TINA, I'VE SEEN LAURA IN THE
FIELD USING THESE FUN GADGETS,
BUT HOW DO THEY HELP YOU
FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEAL
WITH THIS NASTY PLANT?

The caption changes to "Tina Jansen Van Vuuren. Georgian Bay Islands National Park. Geomatics Coordinator."

Tina is in her thirties, with straight strawberry blond hair in a bob cut and wears a green T-shirt.

She says WE MAP THE PHRAGMITES,
WE MAP ALL THE PATCHES
THAT ARE SURROUNDING OUR
BEAUSOLEIL ISLAND SHORELINE.
WE MAP IT USING GPS, WHICH IS A
REALLY COOL TECHNOLOGY.

Leo says HMM, VERY INTERESTING!

Tina says YOU KNOW, GPS IS EVERYWHERE
THESE DAYS,
WE ALL HAVE IT IN OUR PHONES,
WE HAVE IT IN OUR CARS.
IT HELPS US KNOW HOW TO GET TO
THE CLOSEST DONUT SHOP
OR TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE.
SO THIS GPS UNIT
IS WAY MORE ACCURATE
THAN THE GPS UNITS
THAT ARE IN OUR PHONES,
SO WE CAN USE IT TO CAPTURE
THAT DATA IN THE FIELD.
SO WHEN WE HAVE IT
IN THE COMPUTER,
WE CAN PERFORM ALL DIFFERENT
SORTS OF ANALYSIS WITH IT.
WE CAN CREATE REALLY COOL
LOOKING PICTURES AND MAPS
TO SHOW EXACTLY WHERE THESE
FEATURES ARE IN THE REAL WORLD.
AND WE CAN TURN IT INTO
INFORMATION
SO THAT IT HELPS PEOPLE
MAKE DECISIONS.

Leo says WHAT KIND OF DECISIONS
DOES IT HELP YOU MAKE?

Tina says IT HELPS US DETERMINE WHICH
PATCHES WE'RE GOING TO CUT FIRST
AND HOW WE'RE GOING TO CUT THEM.

Leo says WOW.

Tina says SO YOU CAN SEE HERE
ON THE SCREEN,
WE HAVE THE DIFFERENT SIZES
OF THE PATCHES.
SO LOOKING AT THIS, AND ALSO
SOME OF THE DATA
THAT'S ASSOCIATED
WITH EACH PATCH,
LAURA, OUR COORDINATOR,
IS GOING TO LOOK AT THIS,
AND SHE'S GOING TO SAY, "OKAY,
THESE LITTLE SMALL AREAS HERE,
"WE CAN CUT THEM REALLY EASILY."
AND IT HELPS US PUT TOGETHER
A WHOLE PLAN
OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO IMPEDE THE
REED AND PROTECT THE WETLANDS.

Leo says OOH!

Leo sings a song that goes
IMPEDE THE REED
YO, YO, YO, IMPEDE THE REED
IMPEDE, IMPEDE,
IMPEDE THE REED

Leo says UGH, THERE HAS TO BE A SONG IN
THERE SOMEWHERE.
SO LAURA, IF YOU DON'T HAVE
ANY OF THIS FANCY GPS
TECHNOLOGY,
HOW DO YOU KNOW PHRAGMITES
IS MOVING INTO YOUR
NEIGHBOURHOOD WETLANDS?

Laura says YOU CAN TELL THAT PHRAGMITES IS
MOVING INTO THE AREA,
YOU CAN TELL BY THE HEIGHT
OF THE PLANT.
IT GROWS QUITE QUICKLY.
AS WELL AS ONE OF THE INDICATORS
IS THE SEED HEAD.
SO YOU CAN SEE HERE
THAT IT'S TAN IN COLOUR,
AND THERE'S LOTS AND LOTS
OF SEED HEADS AT THE VERY TOP.

Leo says SO IF WE SEE ONE,
SHOULD WE PULL IT OUT?

Laura says YOU DON'T WANT TO PULL IT,
BECAUSE IF WE DISTURB...
IF WE PULL IT OUT, IT DISTURBS
THE ROOT SYSTEM IN THE SOIL,
AND WE CAN BREAK OFF
LITTLE PIECES
WHICH CAN THEN START NEW PLANTS.
SO THE BEST WAY TO DO IT IS TO
CUT THE STEM OF THE PHRAGMITES
WITH SPECIALIZED TOOLS,
AND THEN WE KNOW FOR SURE
THAT WE'RE DOING THE BEST
THING WE CAN.
WE'RE REMOVING THE PLANT,
AND WE'RE CREATING AN
OPPORTUNITY
FOR WATER TO BE SOAKED UP INTO
THE ROOT SYSTEM,
AND THE PLANT CAN DIE.

Leo says HOW CAN WE ALL LEND A FIN TO
HELP IMPEDE THE READ?

Laura says IT WOULD BE GREAT IF ALL FISH
HEADS COULD HELP
CUT DOWN PHRAGMITES.
THE BEST WAY TO DO IT
IS TO GO THROUGH A VOLUNTEER
ORGANIZATION,
LIKE A CONSERVATION AUTHORITY,
WHERE YOU LEARN
HOW TO CUT IT PROPERLY.
HERE AT THE PARK, WE HAVE A
PROJECT CALLED IMPEDE THE REED
WHERE WE'LL HAVE LOTS OF
VOLUNTEERS OUT
TO COME HELP THE FISH
COMMUNITIES,
HELP THE FROG COMMUNITIES,
AND CUT DOWN THE PHRAGMITES
LIKE THE PATCHES BEHIND ME.

Leo sings IMPEDE THE REED!
YOUR FISH AND FROG COMMUNITIES
ARE IN NEED!

Leo says HAH! NOT QUITE A SONG,
BUT IT RHYMES.

Music plays as the end credits roll.

Produced in association with TVO.

Logo: Fifth Ground Entertainment.

Logo: Parks Canada.

Copyright 2020, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by Parks Canada.