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The Science Longline Fishing Campaign Report Ship Log & Webcast Last Year |
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Ship Log: First Evidence of Pirate Fishing
the Arctic Sunrise 4 March, Saturday The black-browed albatross is an extremely smart-looking medium sized albatross, with a white body, black upper wings and tail and eyes that have black “mascara” that would put Audrey Hepburn to shame. Its form marred only, in my humble opinion, by an extremly short neck, giving it a rather hunch-backed appearance. Other birds spotted throughout the day included the soft-plummaged petrel, northern and southern giant petrels, Wilson’s storm petrel, prions and by far the largest of them all, the majestic wandering albatross. We sighted more hourglass dolphins, but alas we were moving too slow to attract them for a bow-ride. We also sighted a Commerson’s dolphin. This is a small, usually coastal, species, so it is unusual to sight one in 2000 metres of water. Like the hourglass dolphin, it is basically black and white, although the white is more greyish in this sub-species. The Commerson's is larger than the hourglass and its patterning is quite different. It is also much fatter! There is no visible beak, and the head, apart from the chin, is black, while the body is white with a black saddle extending diagonally down from just in front of the rounded dorsal fin to the tail stock. The French name “the Jacobite” is much more descriptive. In the afternoon we detected another vessel and the helicopter (Tweetie) was sent to investigate. Bingo! The “Grand Prince”, a pirate fishing vessel. We’ve actually had its photo on display in the lounge for weeks! 5 March, Sunday Early in the morning we quickly searched the area for fishing gear. Rising seas made it extremely difficult to spot any buoys against the white caps. The arrival of many sea-birds congegating around us, as if expectant for a possible meal, seemed like a good sign. During the course of the day the campaign team established a “lookout roster." Everyone does an hour, one person on each bridge wing. No fishing gear was seen this time. We then followed the Grand Prince as she headed north to make sure she left the CCAMLR area. We then continued in "search mode". 6 March, Monday Heavy duty cleaning day. Three flights of alleyways, the engineering workshop floors and the laundry all had to be swept and washed. 7 March, Tuesday At dawn, I tried to clean the windows, which have become rather salt encrusted due to the ocean’s spray. Coming inside from the deck leads to amazing sensations as the blood flows back into frozen ears and fingers. At about 2:30 pm we witnessed a truly amazing occurrence: a “super pod” of about 150 Commerson’s dolphins joined us for about half an hour! This far from land it is most unusual to encounter this species. As they are often “Killer Whale Snacks”, perhaps they were using us as an “acoustic-shield “ to avoid predation? A truly impressive sight to behold! Towards evening, the barometer plunged alarmingly - indicating stormy weather on the way. We raced around the ship tying things down. The gale was already up as we climbed out onto the rear deck to raise the fences surrounding the heli-pad. Rising seas made this a rather terrifying endeavor. One slip and you’re gone - but at least it puts a colour in your cheeks! 8 March, Wednesday At 8AM I again washed the bridge windows as due to the stormy weather they were once again salt splashed. Just as I was finishing, two whale blows were spotted. From the shape I’d say they were humpbacks, though they stayed down a long time and were most undemonstrative - perhaps they were feeding at depth? More whales were spotted as the day progressed - oblique blows and a tail-fluke wave indicated sperm whales this time. We launched the helicopter twice today. The first time was for an aerial perspectice of the northern tip of Kerguelan Island – home to some of the albatrosses that are killed on pirate longlines. On the second trip - a general reconnaisance - some fishing buoys were spotted and as the Arctic Sunrise cruised to their co-ordinates I was posted to the bridge wings to keep watch for them so we didn't overshoot the fishing gear. I spotted them just before dinner - which was a relief as I could have missed a meal! We considered hauling the fishing gear to document the by catch and also for evidence of pirate fishing, but as there was only a couple of hours daylight remaining we replaced the gear after a quick look at the state of the buoys and decided to wait until tomorrow. 9 March, Thursday The line is hauled over the bow by the anchor winch - the hydraulics of which make a tremendous noise that reverberates throughout the ship. I suspect I am now not alone in having a hearing problem! The line is coiled on the deck, hooks, weights etc are snipped off along the way and stored in drums. It is VERY HARD WORK, wet rope is heavy, gloves become sodden and fingers freeze. Your nose runs continiously, the metal deck freezes your feet, you become obsessed with the task of just standing on the rolling deck and completing the job without falling over and cracking your head open or getting impailed by the numerous hooks. Your muscles ache and you begin to realize why fishermen are so well paid!! The line is very old, it has been adrift for sometime, so there are no fish, just lots of seaweed, assorted barnacles, many tangles, more than a few knots and plenty of weights. Most of the latter are 5 kilo lumps of concrete, but there is also an anchor and a curiously heavy metal affair made of a cylinder with a tube inside. Above us as we toil, the albatross and petrels soar, eager for the promise of food that they have become conditioned to expect from boats setting and hauling lines. Yet it is this very promise that proves to be fatal for many an unlucky bird as they dive for the bait when the fish pirates are setting their lines, becoming hooked and then drowning. Fortunately that won't be a problem with this line, but it is easy to see how the practice of longlining is driving many seabird species towards extinction. I have never before seen so many hooks, nasty big & shiny with a vicious barb - they’re all over the place, thank heavens for our boots and gloves! 10 March, Friday Check out more stories about life on board |
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