« The Goliath oil field a conflict between plan and practice | Main | Barents Rescue 2005 in realistic weather »
September 3, 2005
Threatened beauty
"To the Italian oil company that wants to drill here I want to say, quoting Monty Python: ROMANS GO HOME!"
See Martin's pictures from the island of Hjelmsøy. This fragile area is threatened by the plans for oil drilling and the lack of preparedness in case of an accident.
click to enlarge!
Here is our ship Esperanza in front of the rock wall of Hjelmsøy. These are the last islands in Northern Norway before the Barents Sea, the pack ice and the Arctic.
This is the ghost town of Sandvikvær on the island Hjelmsøy. About ten years ago Norwegian authorities compensated the population for leaving their homes and move to the mainland.
What remains of the quayside in Sandvikvær the years of neglect show.
The bird colony of Gjesværstappan is one of the largest in Northern Europe. Here gulls have gathered for a morning meeting on a sunny rock.
A few seabirds enjoy the evening sun. There is a lot of cormorants in Gjesvær, in addition to land puffins, sea eagles and many other species. Even if the puffins had left when we reached the area, there are about 400 000 pairing puffins in this area every spring.
We also saw sea eagle during our visit in Gjesvær, not only one or two but we saw ten at the same time. One of the local fishermen mentioned he had seen 22 of them once!
Cormorants and puffins winging their way through the air. In a few weeks time there will be an oilrig test drilling on the Goliath oil field visible on the horizon behind them.
Miguel and Steve, crewmembers from the Esperanza.
Hurtigruta heading northwards from Tromsø with tourists and other passengers. The North Cape is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Norway with hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Wonder what they will think about having those oilrigs in their view.
Steam between two of the islands at Gjesvær.
Sunrise at Sørøya. Sometimes this job is not so bad!
[This picture was shot by Christian Åslund]some of us take a swim at the Goliath oil field with Norway in the background. Knowing that this is one of the most vulnerable areas along the whole coast, and also one of the most important fishing grounds in the Barents Sea, doesnt it seem pretty meaningless to drill for oil here?
To the Italian oil company that wants to drill here I want to say, quoting Monty Python: ROMANS GO HOME!
- Martin Norman
Posted by Irene at September 3, 2005 2:03 PM