The Rainbow Warrior unfolded her wonderful sails, from our first day July 19 till the evening of the next day. In other words the Mother Wind helped us pass the Çanakkale Bogazi with no need to use the engine. The wind was rocking our ship a bit too much, which led, Erdal, our scientist assistant, who felt very seasick, to leave us in Aliaga.

The dolphin and whale observations continue with the guidance of Harun and Rafi, our scientists onboard. We have seen our first 2 bottlenose dolphins, before we anchor in Ayvalik on July 20, at about 4 pm. They are light colored. They have noses like bottles, as you would have easily guessed from their names. One of them was a young dolphin and the other was its mother. We started to ask Harun and Rafi whether we could see a whale or not. If we are, I am sure I would be paralyzed for a while out of excitement, so I'm trying to get myself used to the thought that we might be spotting one soon.

On July 20, two dives were done in Ayvalik, and the divers loved and enjoyed the deepest places of Ege coasts. July 22, at around 4 am, we set sail to Aliaga. Another dive took place in Aliaga. But they couldn't document much next to Petkim, because the visibility of the underwater is very bad. Can you imagine what the condition of the sea is like in this area? The sea is too dark to see anything. The dives finished at 10 am in the morning, and our divers finally came back aboard our ship. They have captured interesting images, and they have also opened a small hand banner 'Sea Reserves Now' near the plants despite all the iron-steel wastes of the sea.

Later during the day, the Rainbow Warrior was full of cameramen and journalists, all rushing to our ship in interest to know what was our next stage in saving our Mediterranean. We have been campaigning in this region for more than 10 years, about PVC factory and ship breaking yards; and the people of this town are quite familiar with Greenpeace activities, and therefore, were supportive of our ocean campaign. They have come to an understanding that our campaign is in favor of their livelihood. We have strong bonds with the people of this area and the labor union of petrol-chemical workers, which is to all's benefit.
Meanwhile I'm learning seamanship from our experienced crew.
[Translated from Turkish by Ömer Volkan Cüran]