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Greenpeace activists are on the high seas to stop the illegal plunder of fish stocks by pirate fishing vessels. See below to get a feel of the actions aimed at ending pirate fishing.
Currently no more pirate sightings to report, although we remain on their trail. During our Atlantic voyage, and recently, though, different members of the crew have spotted a variety of "sea monsters"! No, these are not mythical monsters of the ocean, but very real cetaceans. Cetacean is the collective term for whales, dolphins and porpoises. Although at first glance, they closely resemble fish (sharks for example, are fish), they are in fact mammals, which means that they are warm-blooded, breathe air and give birth to live young. Ultimately, this is why we are here - to protect the health of the oceans and the creatures that live within it. Overfishing is one of the greatest threats, if not the greatest threat to the health of the oceans, being hugely disruptive to the delicate balance of nature. One aspect of the problem, is that the more fish we take out of the sea, the less there is for the species which would otherwise feast off these fish. Or if we take the top predators such as shark and tuna, either because they are the target species or incidental bycatch, this can lead to unpredictable consequences for the marine ecosystem, such as the proliferation of species on which they feed. Competition with fisheries for food and capture in fishing nets and on longlines, is one of a host of human-induced problems, which have taken and continue to take their toll on the cetaceans. Others include whaling, human disturbance, habitat destruction and marine pollution (today, with perhaps the calmest seas of the expedition to date, we have seen a worrying amount of rubbish floating around on the ocean surface). Large whales were hunted almost to the point of extinction, until a world-wide ban was agreed in 1986."However, whales are still being hunted today as a result of serious loopholes in the international agreement. Countries such as Japan and Norway pretend to catch whales for "scientific research" or simply choose to defy the ban. Greenpeace continues to campaign against commercial whaling. There have been numerous dolphin sightings during this expedition, most of which have been Common Dolphins. Today, Jimmy spotted an Orca to our stern, which was later joined by two others. Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, are the largest member of the dolphin family and have distinctive jet-black, brilliant white and grey markings. We have also spotted a Minke whale and Craig thinks he may have seen a Humpback. The Minke whale is the smallest and most abundant of the rorquals, which are baleen whales. When they feed, the folds of skin under their throats expand to hold vast quantities of water and they then expel through their baleen to filter out the fish or krill. Tuna and tuna-like species are at the top of the food chain and do not have many predators, sharks (such as Mako) being the main one. However, by evading conservation measures introduced by ICCAT to regulate the tuna fishery in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, pirate fishing is precipitating a rapid decline in the population of these species themselves. If unchecked, it may lead ultimately to the collapse of stocks of these fish, with consequences not only for the way of life of local peoples and legal fishermen, but for the marine ecosystem generally. Other species on which tuna feed, may proliferate, with unknown and unforeseeable consequences for the marine environment. This could be exacerbated with many sharks also being taken out of the food chain: Blue Sharks and Mako in particular are the main bycatch (in addition to swordfish, marlin and sting rays) on longliners in this fishery. The short-fin mako, which has been described as 'the most aristocratic of sharks', is also one of the fastest swimmers and is known to be dangerous and unpredictable when molested. It feeds on a large variety of tunas, bonitos and smaller fish prey, but apparently rarely attacks marine mammals. It is a valuable species and is not discarded when hooked as bycatch, but sold, mainly in the markets of Japan and the United States. Only one member of the crew seems to have seen one shark one night, since the beginning of our Atlantic voyage. Certain members of the crew might be quite happy about this, as far as today's swim stop is concerned - at 17:00 we stopped the engines and abandoned ship, jumping or diving off the side into a beautiful blue and slightly swelling sea.
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