The Science
Patagonian toothfish are not the only species being decimated by pirate fishing vessels. The science team on board the Arctic Sunrise documents the impact pirate fishing has on a wide array of bird species in the Southern Ocean.Don't forget to feast your eyes on our Bird of the Week!

Longline Fishing
What is longline fishing and why is it so detrimental to a variety of wildlife?

Campaign Report
Track the progress of our campaign by checking out these periodic reports from Greenpeace's onboard campaign team.

Ship Log & Webcast
What's daily life like on a Greenpeace ship? How does the crew prepare for these dramactic actions? And just what is a bosun anyway? Get first hand accounts from our crew.

Last Year
In 1999 Greenpeace embarked on an expedition to expose pirate fishing in the Southern Ocean and caught the notorious, Spanish-owned pirate vessel Salvora illegally fishing in the French waters around Kerguelen Island. Here's an overview of that campaign...

This is where you can read, see, and hear the latest from the Greenpeace crew members in the Southern Ocean. Click on the icon to listen and watch Greenpeace in action. Our illustrated radio format requires a free, downloadable Realplayer from Real Audio.

Radio Log: The Science Team

the Arctic Sunrise
20 February

Scientist Alan Hemmings has been working with Greenpeace off and on for years, in part, because Greenpeace's campaigns to protect the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean ecosystem have crossed paths with one of his principal areas of expertise, the birds of the Indian and Southern Oceans. He advised Greenpeace's early Antarctic campaign and has been on board the organizations last two expeditions to the Southern Ocean.

Now with colleague, independent scientist, John Darnell, Alan is helping the crew of the M/V Arctic Sunrise document the link between pirate fishing and the decline in Southern Ocean bird populations.

Birds ranging from the petrel to the majestic albatross congregate around pirate fishing vessels in search of food. As the ships set their lines, the birds dive for the bait only and are unwittenly hooked and drowned.

Scientists estimate that illegal fishers kill at least 60,000 -100,000 albatrosses and petrels on longlines in the Southern Ocean each year. But these are just estimates. The real numbers may be much higher. The Greenpeace science team wants to get a more definitve count of just how many birds are hauled in on a typical pirate longline.

We do know that in just one year, the pirate fishery drowned between 9 and 15% of the breeding population of grey-headed albatrosses and 10 to 20% of the breeding population of giant petrels.

John Darnell has been student of natural history for most of his life. A retired engineer, he is now a research associate with the Western Australia Museum. No stranger to the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, he's come along on this trip to further our understanding of how longlining's toll affects the overall bird populations in the Southern Ocean.

Alan and John spend a good portion of each day at sea on deck conducting bird surveys . in accordance with the protocol established for the international BIOMASS (Biological Investigations Of Marine Antarctic Systems and Stocks) programme during the 1980s. While no single set of bird surveys can substantially alter our understanding of what's happening to the Southern Ocean, the Greenpeace team is contributing to the growing body of information on Antarctic bird populations being assembled at the Australian Anarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania.

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