On Aug. 7, a team of women scientists, strategists, and Indigenous swimmers plunged into the glacial waters near Mount Robson.

Their goal is monumental: a 30-day, 1,375-km relay swim down the Fraser River, culminating at Garry Point in Richmond on Sept. 4.

The relay is the centrepiece of the Fraser River Challenge, an expedition that also features a 1,000-km solo walk by endurance walker Justin Smith.

Together, the team is rallying public support to hold Canada to its commitment to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030.

Naomi Devine, a Victoria-based environmental planner and one of the relay’s core swimmers, notes that currently, only 17.6% of the Fraser Rivershed is protected. The team is advocating for First Nations-led conservation projects—specifically Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas to secure the remaining 12.4%.

“That would mean adding another 2.9 million hectares, roughly the size of Vancouver Island, as protected areas to the rivershed.”

Devine will be swimming alongside SFU marine ecologist Dr. Isabelle Côté, forest disturbance ecologist Michelle Connolly, and rotating Indigenous swimmers.

Fraser Riverkeeper Fin Donnelly, a former MP and B.C. MLA who previously swam the entire river in 1995 and 2000, is leading the expedition alongside a motorized safety team.

For Delta residents, the health of the Fraser is strongly connected to local agricultural lands, fisheries, and shoreline stability.

The Fraser estuary serves as a major stop on the Pacific Flyway, supporting millions of migrating shorebirds, while providing critical sheltered waters for juvenile salmon adapting to saltwater.

“You can think of the estuary as part of Delta's life support system. It supports food production and fisheries, helps manage water and flooding,” Devine explained. “People in Delta get to live next to one of the richest natural environments I’ve seen in Canada.”

Devine’s passion for environmental protection is rooted in her childhood, filled with memories of exploring a local creek with her grandmother.

It was a beloved waterway she viewed as “her close friend” until it was devastated by chemical pollution.

To prepare for the demanding conditions, the environmentalist has spent the last couple of years cold-water ocean swimming, though she acknowledges the unique dangers of navigating the Fraser.

“It's cold at the beginning because it's glacial fed, and it's a lot colder than people think, so that's a bit of a danger in and of itself,” she said, adding that the river’s fast-moving currents present distinct physical risks.

Ultimately, the expedition hopes to demonstrate widespread public backing for Indigenous-led conservation before the 2030 deadline.

Residents can support the initiative by signing a declaration at fraserriverkeeper.ca or donating to the cause.

As threats like warming waters, droughts, and historic salmon declines converge, the team says the urgency has never been clearer.

“We see it's not only an environmental goal, but it's a cultural, economic, and generational responsibility,” Devine said. “We're wanting to do the expedition to meet the scale of that challenge and the attention that we think it needs.”