Lisa is sitting opposite me now and has been for the last two weeks. She looks tired, but she is smiling. It seems that she is writing a nice weblog...
We are on the way back. Steaming with 14 kn - 750 miles to Halifax. The tour is at the end and this part of the seamounts campaign is over. It was a great time for me here on the Esperanza. From the campaign side as well as from the personal side.
Campaign wise I am glad that we were able to document the different fisheries here on the high seas of the Northwest Atlantic. This gave us the possibility to tell the different stories about what is wrong with fishing redfish, shrimp and Greenland halibut. We showed what doesn't work with the regional fisheries management organization NAFO. We were able to get more evidence and support for our demand, which is a UN moratorium on high seas bottom trawling. I have been a scientist for many years and I love to identify species, to find small organisms, to discover their way of live and to learn how all this fits together. I still have the passion of a scientist to research and feel that it would be such a scandal if the world of the deep blue ocean get lost before we had a chance to look at it. Before we can imagine how important this life in the deep is for our world above the surface. It is so logical for me that we need to give scientist the time to identify the important ar
eas first before we can protect them. We can't identify them while we destroy them at the same time by bottom trawling.
>From the personal side it was a great team to work with - the campaign people as well as the crew of the Esperanza. There was always the chance to say your opinion, to get heard and to be involved in the decision making process. I love to be on the sea, to see the horizon, feel the wind and taste the salty air. It's freedom for me and I never will get enough of it. Every ship tour you meet new people, some which fit more to yourself, some less. There are so many different nationalities and different stories behind the people so it's always such a great experience. One of my wishes when I came on boars was to see whales and dolphins alive in the sea. Until now I've only seen harbour porpoises in the North Sea and dead sperm and fin whales on the beaches of the Wadden Sea. Here I got to see dolphins, pilot whales and sperm whales a few meters alongside an inflatable! It impressed me deeply and reached my heart where it will stay forever. I am able to sit and watch the ocean for
hours and hours. Feeling cold or hungry doesn't matter and nothing else seems to be important when you get the chance to experience the ocean like this.
