Oakville Women Take Eclipse Fundraiser Global for Fin Whales

Five Oakville women who raised $75,000 for monarch butterfly conservation during the 2024 solar eclipse are taking their project overseas. Taylor Denton, Ellen Lentine, Emilie Leclercq, Paige Denton and Maggie Lentine sold nearly 500,000 recyclable eclipse glasses two years ago, routing the money to groups like the OakvilleGreen Conservation Association.

For the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, the Oakville Trafalgar High School alumnae have launched the Fin Whale Eclipse Project with ORCA, a UK-based ocean conservation charity. The eclipse path lines up with the migration route of the North Atlantic fin whale, a coincidence founder Taylor Denton called almost unbelievable.

The group is selling eclipse glasses at events across Wales, France and Spain, with 15 per cent of the proceeds going to ORCA's work. The total eclipse will be visible in Iceland and northern Spain, with a partial eclipse across the UK and France.

The idea is the same one that worked in 2024: give people a reason to look up, then use it to fund conservation of a species living below the surface.