Today we had a funny experience in the afternoon – calls of “dolphins” and “fishing boats” went up at the same time. While everyone else downed tools and made for the bow to watch two bottlenose dolphins bow riding alongside the Rainbow Warrior, Canan and I (the two oceans campaigners onboard) were instead glued to binoculars checking out the fishing boats.

What concerned us was whether these were purse-seiners fishing for bluefin tuna. Already this year Greenpeace has documented tuna fleets from France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Turkey, and what we have seen suggests that bluefin tuna are in serious trouble in the Mediterranean Sea. For one month (15 July to 15 August) purse-seine fishing for bluefin tuna is banned, so had these boats been doing so they would have been illegal. As we neared them, it was clear that they were not purse-seiners after all.

However, even if it is respected, a one-month closure of the fishery each year is simply not enough to be a “sustainable” way to manage the bluefin tuna population in the Mediterranean Sea. They need marine reserves to protect their important breeding and feeding grounds, a size limit that actually allows them to breed before they can be caught, and greatly reduced – and enforced – quotas.

So, what excites you? -- If you are concerned about the state of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea you can read more about this in our report Where have all the tuna gone? Or, if you have been watching the dolphins from the bow of the Rainbow Warrior, you can find out more about our whale and dolphin survey from the scientists themselves.