Arrival in the UK

After sailing for seven days, we got to the West Indian Dock, Canary Wharf, South Quay, London, on Saturday, 10th July at exactly 8.20 am. Docking directly opposite the tall HSBC glass house in London, bring to mind first, "berthing at the business center of England."

Well, it is business as usual many of the crews are going to be replaced by another crew, while some will get along with the ship to Amsterdam. Meeting new faces ever since we got to London is a normal thing here. I had shown my interest to visit the famous London zoo while still aboard the ship.

By 12.37pm, myself and Mike the 2nd mate on the ship were on our way to the zoo. Boarding the train at the South Quay station to Bank and then to King’s Cross St. Pancras is full of lots of excitement, not quite different from the situation of Lagos, in Nigeria. People jostle for space at every station we had a stopover, London is like a bee nest, where bees hum around, you see people walking so fast as if it’s a walking race affair, indeed, it’s a busy place. My trip via Amsterdam – Reykjavik and now London makes me have a lot of respect for the itinerary prospects of the ubiquitous Chinese, they are everywhere, they must be adventurous or is it because they are the most populous nation on earth?

At the zoo, a lot were on display to watch and enjoy. Many of the animals I have heard about in the London zoo are still intact, except for the gorillas, chimpanzees, and elephants. The elephants as it was noted on their notice board have been moved to another center, perhaps to create more room for eco-tourism. The Komodo dragon, the largest living lizard, is available but too new to appear before the general public. Watching the mock sport of falconry is an added pep to my itinerary, it shows how intelligent and obedient these creatures could be if only we show more love and care. Leaving the zoo, and taking a cool walk through the ever-busy Camden market could be a nasty experience for a first timer. I expected more decency in a city that once ruled the world in terms of commerce, economy, population, fashion, culture way back in the 19th Century. Noises are everywhere; airplanes, trains, buses, cars, trucks, and humans all contributed their shared quotas in this sense, it was a deafening scenario. In London you get to see decent and crazy fashions found nowhere else in other countries of Europe, buttressing the words of my widely traveled guide, Mike, I think this is true. Youths with bizarre punks style haircut, multi-coloured hair, face piercing (some faces could accommodate about 30 holes, all in the name of fashion), tattoos of different sizes and symbols all added extreme glamour to London taste for fashion, I mean you swing your head to the right, left, back and forth you are loaded with a lot to look at. Entering the train to connect my way back to the ship is our next move. People seem to enjoy reading newspapers, novels, or anything readable in the train, as for me I enjoyed reading people, at least it keeps me busy. We got back to the ship, by 6.38pm, it started getting dark here by 9.00pm, quite different from my experience in Reykjavik, where the sun refused to set, aaaaaaaah!

-tomakint

Open boat

Today is full of activities in the ship, we received a lot of visitors, starting from the morning time to the evening time.

They were trooping in, in their large numbers, Chinese, British, Africans, Americans etc of course they all reside in the UK, the Esperanza is indeed a famous ship. Few claimed to know me even before introducing myself, quite funny, they must have been members of Greenpeace who keep in touch with the latest updates of the website.

I was privileged to meet with an old member of Greenpeace, he should be in his late 70s or early 80s, Leslie Nind by name, a British who narrates his first experience at sea to me, how he developed sea-sickness, his activities with Greenpeace over the years, sailing North, South, East. A lot of meaningful discussions were evoked. He later introduced his friends to me, Janet and Richard. Attached to the lapel of his suit was a gold plated badge of Greenpeace, "this is what they gave us then as members," he muttered. When I asked about the year he joined Greenpeace, he couldn’t remember but he said, "a long time ago." He gave me his business card indicating his job as an artist, a fantastic man to have discussions with.

Still have few days left to wrap up my itinerary concerning the "Iceland Whale Pledge Challenge," indeed, I have been polished ten times I used to be environmentally!

-tomakint

Tomakint at sea!

Shortly after the ship disengaged from the harbour of Reykjavik, it was a different story entirely. A new life is about to be unfolded, and I am anxious to see it.

Life aboard the Esperanza is a day full of so many activities; you settle down and get paired up as a new foreman to the ship, as for me keeping watch on the bridge from 12 midnight till 4.00pm is my job and truly I find it quite challenging, that I could stay awake throughout this period. Initially at the commencement of the journey I had my own share of the popular sea-sickness, this lasted for few hours, I felt my brain spinning around in its case. My tummy couldn’t take in anything called food, the apple I took prior to my sickness I vomited during this period of upsurge in my body, thanks to Doctor Demet who advised on what to eat to suppress it. My co-watchers Mike from South Africa, a 2nd mate Captain on the Esperanza and Demet from Turkey a doctor on the Esperanza seem to be the best pair fate could afford me, especially when I remembered that I did not have to lobby before I got paired to them. Settling down during this period, and rubbing minds together on some highly educative discussions about politics, economies, cultures, environmental challenges, climates, tourism prospects of so many countries, is a moment I find thrilling. You pick up books like; "Greenpeace: Changing the world" and "The Greenpeace Story," and its like you asking yourself that, am I really making efforts to champion the course of our environment to the whole world? Especially when you come across stunning, hair-raising action packed pictures of the trauma, intrigues, risks of pioneers and ordinary members of Greenpeace. Starting from the campaign against nuclear testing in Amchitka aboard the Phyllis Cormack Ship in 1971 down to the present "No to Commercial Whaling" in Iceland, Norway, Japan and any other whaling nations, Greenpeace has successfully demonstrated leadership in balancing protest actions with democratic means. Every Greenpeace protest action is a blend of resoluteness to a practical statement of commitment to non-violence. As you read on, these books present different levels of emotions to you as you see people like you and I who can breathe, walk, eat, sleep, run, cry, and of course capable of dying, fighting with unalloyed courage just to save a planet we both share. Not even the physical resistance put up by governments through their agents; police and secret service agents, seem to deter these determined resolute fighters. Greenpeace of course faces these challenges but not without some doses of bitter and painful experiences, one of them that would never fail the memory of an average Greenpeacer was the tragedy that struck the Rainbow Warrior Ship on 10th July, 1985 when two bombs were planted in it by French Secret Service Agents which exploded and sank the ship in the process while it was docked at the quayside in Auckland, New Zealand. Photographer Fernando Pereira, a crew onboard did not survive this attack.

Moving along the North Atlantic Ocean could be awesome at times; taking a look at the mighty ocean is a simple definition and a perfect measurement of the roundness of this planet. You look around you and what you see is the ocean giving the clouds a perpetual and passionate kiss. Another thing that caught my attention is the life of the restless, inquisitive sea gull, a sea bird that doesn’t feel like taking a rest, but enjoys flapping its wings for several hours, not even during the dead hours of the nights. We sailed past Aberdeen, Scotland on Thursday under the cover of darkness I could see lights of the city shinning brightly afar off. Later on we got to Margate, a pilot station. Riding on the rough terrain of the ocean is awesome, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was tough, especially for a first timer like me. I was not too comfortable, as the ship keeps going up and down and swinging or is it swerving hard from left to right sides. Of course these are the gateways to sea-sickness, I seem to be saying to myself, "oh no! Not again, I don’t want to get sick again." I tried to beat it, and I was successful with my strategy. Although a little weakness and dizziness as a result of not having enough sleep due to my "dancing" while in bed.

The Captain, Jan, a Dutch is a man with a very good sense of humour, a man you can chat up with anytime you run into him; up the bridge, in his cabin, down at the mess he is ready to exchange banters with the least of the crew, a down to earth personality. You meet him in the morning, afternoon, evening even at night and you see a very neat, smartly dressed man, you look at his face, no sign of drowsiness, I mean looking at his face in the dead of the nights one may expect to see signs of weakness on the eyelids as a result of sleep, not so for him, I called him Mr. Wonderful for that. He cannot utter a sentence without making you open your teeth in laughter or if you are the hard-faced type, a smile at least. With his mug of tea, he seldom visits us up the bridge to see things for himself and also keeps us company, a man of many parts. On Friday, my good friend, Demet, gave me a good sketch on her drawing sheet I am to maintain a particular posture for the portrait, a crew was also involved in the sketching, Mark by name, a gifted artist, he finished his sketching under 15 minutes I was thrilled that an artist could be that exact in his work. We anchored at Margate Road, (road according to seamen is a place at sea where you have a stop-over); there we waited for the Pilot from England to direct the course of the ship. By 2.50am a ferry came along with the "Pilot" aboard and thereafter we continued with the journey after waiting for about three and half hours. I must confess that this journey gave me an insight into human achievements over the years. Man remains the "most inquisitive animal" ever created by God. As we were sailing on, I remembered seeing structures looking like giants tripods right in the ocean, Demet referred to them as the weapons used against the Germans when Britain withstood them in the air battle during the Second World War. It’s amazing seeing the works of human beings still speaking volume, I wonder what it takes those that did the construction to put those stuffs in there. Afar off we could see lands, hills, and shinning lights telling me our nearness to our next port of call.

Now, the journey is smoother at least, I feel like I am riding on a smooth road as with a car, I don’t feel like sleeping, I am like, "hey, can’t we start it all over again", I now find resolute in the song "Storm is over......................." Oh yes, storm is over now, I can feel the sunshine, see you in London!

Slideshow

I’ve put together a slideshow with some pictures from the tour. It already feels like such a long time ago when we first arrived in Isafjördur.

This is probably my final update in this blog, the MV Esperanza left Iceland yesterday. I will remember all the faces, the good people we met and the magic sceneries.

One day, when whaling has come to an end, I will come back. Please continue to give your support, and remember to take the pledge if you haven’t done so yet.

Domestic opinion on whaling is changing

Results show that over a third of Icelandic people, traditionally a whaling nation, no longer support whaling.

Whale meat consumption is rapidly decreasing and the domestic tourism industry is coming out strongly against whaling.

The Government of Iceland should react wisely to public opinion and cancel its ‘scientific’ whaling programme altogether.

Greenpeace used to be considered an enemy of Iceland, following earlier
controversial actions to stop Icelandic whaling. By contrast, this year when we have travelled around the island on the MV Esperanza urging people to ‘Choose the future, not whaling’, we have been visited by the President of Althingi, the Icelandic Parliament.

The poll was conducted by IMG Gallup for Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) The question was: “Are you in favour or against Icelanders starting whale hunting again?” The support has dropped to 67,3 percent from 74,6 last year. That might not sound like a lot, but seen the circumstances in Iceland it is very encouraging.

Farewells

Hello everyone,

Mixed emotions today. I’m leaving the ship but staying in Reykjavik for a few days with my new friends. I had a million things to do and only a few hours to do them- the ship was scheduled to depart at 4:00 sharp. In no particular order I: organized and downloaded my photos for the crew, burned a CD for Irene, printed my blog in its entirety, packed all my stuff, wrote an update, cleaned up the campaign office, talked to Tomakint about his itinerary and explained to him more about the digital camera, gave Anita the ski jacket and hiking shoes I brought, visited with Martin and his niece, still wrote no postcards, and printed a few ship e-mails. Hey! They took the banner down! Nearly forgot my new tank top, got some e-mail addresses and phone numbers, helped Jari find a missing video tape from yesterday, printed up my flight itinerary, and ate some squirrel mix.

Then I said good-bye. With tears in my eyes and joy in my heart, I said good-bye to each and every one of the crew. Mike Fincken, with eyes so sensitive it practically hurts to look into them, please send me your updates and thank you for the beautiful journey. Anita, you have to come to Lake Tahoe if you expect me to believe that you’re a better skier than I am! Marta, do you realize how lovely you are? Luke, thank you for sharing your stories and your inquisitiveness with me. Tyronne, do you ever sleep? Karl, Rania, Kim, Mike, and Slava- you guys really do have the best parties. Demet, thank you for taking care of me, and thank you for laughing with me- your smile lights up the room. Jorge and Miguel, how am I supposed to get anything done with you guys lying there with your shirts off? Hans, I hope you really are thinking of me when you open that nice bottle of wine in London. Mick, thanks for the good company. Capitan Jan, I had a blast! Rien, don’t forget to send me that recipe you promised. Gianluca, you’re a complicated Italian Radio Operator philosopher, and a sweetheart. Mark, loved the conversations and enjoyed your insight, despite the fact that you are American. Donald the superb bosun, I’ll never forget you. Frank, I already miss you- please write. Helena you beautiful girl, you’re an inspiration and I can’t wait to catch up with you again.

Have I squeezed everything I could from this experience? I really think I have. I savored every minute and never lost sight of my good fortune. I met passionate people, and I saw wonderful things. I found humor in surprising places. I embraced a new culture. My arrival to the ship was anticipated with a healthy skepticism, but my departure was marked by bonds of friendship. Above all, I might have even made a difference for one of the most magnificent animals in the world. Time will tell.

There were a lot of us on the pier at 4:00. All the Greenpeace Reykjavik people, Tor, Erika, Christian, Frode, Irene, Jari, Martin, me. I found it too difficult to stand with everyone else while the ship was pulling away. I stood by myself mostly, waving back when someone on the ship waved at me. Helena! Gianluca! Marta blowing me kisses and holding her hands over her heart! Frank! Mike! Tomakint! Anita up on the bridge deck! Demet! Luke! Shit! The ship is really leaving!

Tears in my eyes the whole time even as I’m smiling and waving and watching one of the best times of my life get smaller and smaller. And with three long blasts of the horn, this journey ends like it began. The Esperanza is ready for her next adventure, ready to fight the good fight. Taking a little piece of Marnee Benson with her but not really caring one way or another because she’s always looking forward. Like Anita. Moving on.

THANK YOU GREENPEACE!!!

- Marnee Benson, Deck Hand 6, MV Esperanza

Goodbye to Reykjavik: Tomakint's update 4th of July

Hi everyone,

I woke up today still savouring the experience I had yesterday. I had hoped to take some shots of the city´s life, this I have longed for knowing fully well that the ship will leave the harbour by 4.00pm for London. After the normal chores, I was trying to do some updates I owe the Greenpeace site, and later left for the Greenpeace office where I spent a greater part of the day. Preferring to get busy at the office cut me off from knowing the day is fast spent. Marnee, my mate in the Pledge Challenge, told me she wouldn´t be going with the ship to London, she preferred to stay behind in Reykjavik, perhaps for more "adventures."

By 3.12pm, it dawned on me that I am yet to take the pictures I have longed for, immediately I sprang into a swift action, I was told to report back to the ship by 3.45pm. My trip in town was well planned anyway, I took the necessary pictures that can fit in well to support any book about Reykjavik, and the greenpeace office was not spared in my paparazzi job as well.

I looked on my wristwatch, its 3.35pm, I have to start heading back to the ship now, the ship is set already for the journey, appearing from a distance of 200 metres away from the ship seeing hands raised up beckoning onto me to double up means all is set, oh! The experience is all coming to an end? Still find it hard to believe. The concealed feeling of sorrow and revealed joy you put up while leaving behind loved ones at the harbour, all waving towards one another is quite hard to deal with. I managed to pull myself together, wear a smiley face as the ship moved gently away from the harbour; it´s an experience indeed!

-tomakint

Postcards, fast-forward

Frode posted the neat summary below of the Iceland tour over at the cybercentre, and I thought I'd cross post it here. It was in response to someone who was aghast that we could talk about football and other diversions here rather than being full-time deadly serious outraged environmentalist grump-butts. To each his own. I've been a part of this campaign for more than a year now, and part of what has made it successful has been the optimism, humour, and willingness to try new things which Frode and the rest of the team have been putting out there. Emma Goldman's phrase still holds for me: I don't want to be a part of any revolution I can't dance to.

Just before I left the ship, the captain was showing us a collection of cards that he'd bought in a local shop. (He's a stamp collector.) One of them was a Greenpeace "Stop the Slaughter" postcard from a couple decades ago. I recognised it, because I used to hand these things out by the dozens every night when I was a canvasser for Greenpeace back in the 80s. There was something deeply encouraging about seeing that postcard -- handwritten from a woman in Wisconsin -- which spoke to me about persistance, and about how the smallest of efforts can carry on. But it also said something about how much Frode has done to make this campaign more effective, and how far Greenpeace has come since those days. Lecturing Iceland with a hectoring message and a shocking image sure made us feel better back in the 80s. But expressing our outrage isn't what it's all about. It's about doing whatever it takes to save the whales.

FRODE'S POST:

MV Esperanza in Reykjavik Wednesday this week: Several hundred persons on open ship, reception with OSPAR delegates (www.ospar.org) from among other Holland, France (incl. their commissioner to the International Whaling Commission), Spain, Sweden and Norway and even more importantly visits from Icelandic politicians and officials. We’re broadening from a debate on whaling in a vacuum to a debate on whales facing a multitude of threats; climate change, marine pollution, sonar, bycatch AND whaling. It’s very important for the work here.

The recent days we’ve seen a large pic of handshakes between the president of Althingi (the Parliament) and Greenpeace in the main paper Morgunbladid. "Oh well, just handshakes" you may think but this gesture would've been totally unthinkable some months ago. We’ve seen a local in an inflatable take action against us. That is, what looked like an action against us, was actually an action to greet us welcome because of the new approach. He waved us goodby with a GP flag when we departed! We’ve seen the youth branches of political parties from a fisheries community come onboard for a very good discussion. In the very same community at least 10 % of the poulation visited the ship. We’ve seen encounters with mayors, the tourism industry and other players. Too mention a few things.

July 5th we’ll issue the result of a new polling on whaling in Iceland.

It’s raining cats and dogs today. I couldn’t care less.

Feel free to contact me on frode@nordic.greenpeace.org if you’ve questions or input.

Frode

Jorge woke us up at 6:15, and Helena and I scrambled to get ready for our day trip to the glacier. We packed plenty of cold weather gear and some food and water for our little group that included Irene and Tomakint. Martin Norman arrived at 7:00 sharp and we actually left at 7:15. Remarkable considering the average bedraggled condition of the female group members.

We drove the van about an hour and a half through beautiful southern Iceland and met up with our guide Gudmundur who drove us up a VERY rocky road for the next 25 minutes in a BIG 4-wheel drive vehicle. Our destination was a pink cabin built by the Icelandic Glaciological Society in the 1960s. This would be our departure point for the hike up the Tindfjöll volcano to the glacier. Hey! There’s Erika and Jari and Christian! Hooray! We all went into the cozy cabin for coffee and introductions, including a visit with Sigurjón, who has been measuring this glacier for 40 years. He is the person Erika is here to interview, and he will take us up the glacier.

Our first stop was a large ice cave that has developed over the past few years and shows clearly the nature of the glacier we are surveying. It was beautiful in there. The texture of the stretched-out dome interior is like a golf ball, only the diameter of the cups is about a meter. The opening is about five meters high and it looked like the cave continued on for at least 50 meters- I walked down as far as I could without my headlamp (it’s safe and sound back on the ship, thank you very much). The ice cave has formed as a result of warmer temperatures- melting snow has produced a little stream that flows along the cave bottom. Sigurjón told us that he has seen significant changes to the glaciers in Iceland since he has been monitoring them these past 40 years. They are shrinking.

The group then scrambled up the rocky slopes of the volcano for about an hour, but the weather had turned misty and foggy. Visibility was poor. I didn’t really notice to be honest. I loved being up there, hiking in Iceland, breathing cold, fresh air. I was with friends and I was comfortable in my excellent Patagonia gear. I could have stayed up there all day, but it was not to be, because now it was actually raining lightly and we were soaked. We did a quick interview on camera (Tomakint did a really good job!) and then headed back. No summit for us today. In fact, we barely saw the glacier. We mostly hiked around on the volcano and walked over a few long patches of snow.

Back at the cabin, we said our good-byes and loaded up the 4-wheel drive. Erika, Jari and Christian stayed behind to try again for an interview with Sigurjón under clear skies on the glacier. On the bumpy ride back down the jeep trail, I thought about the fact that this was Tomakint’s first time on snow. Experience of a lifetime I imagine. Thank you Greenpeace.

Martin promised us more adventure, and we began with a stop at a beautiful waterfall. It was LOUD with a big pool that reminded me of Calf Creek Falls in Escalante National Park in southern Utah. Next we went to the most beautiful waterfall in all of Iceland according to Martin, and he should know. It’s called Seljalandsfoss, and you can walk on a path behind it. After this fun pit stop, we drove back to Reykjavik via the scenic route, which took us past a gorgeous lake with 30 meters visibility, the largest geo-thermal power and water plant in Iceland, myriad hiking trails, the continental divide where the European tectonic plate meets the American tectonic plate, and the hydrogen fueling station in Reykjavik. It was an interesting tour full of highlights, but I would have liked to spend a lot less time in the car and a lot more time on my feet.

We arrived back at the ship just in time to join the end-of-campaign barbeque on the heli deck. The weather was pretty poor, but no one seemed to care. There were a lot of new faces on board for this extravaganza, and everyone was in a festive mood. Souvenir t-shirts were given out to the crew, but unfortunately there were too few to spare one each for the visiting cyberactivists. (I’m saying this purely for Tomakint’s benefit. However, I wear a size small if there are any extra.)

After an ample amount of carousing, a big group of us went to Circus to continue the celebration. There were a lot of Greeenpeacers in attendance and it was such fun. I was so happy! Hey, there’s Irene and Helena and Christian and Jari! We were all glad that the Swedish contingent could make it back to town for the last night’s festivities. What a blast! Oden and I eventually made the mistake of going outside for a breath of fresh air- we got locked out because the place was too crowded and 20 other people were waiting to get in. Fortunately, we were not the only ones, and a few of us left for a really fun bar across the street where we stayed until about 5:30 am listening to a hip DJ spin tunes by the Violent Femmes and Depeche Mode.

We walked back to the ship for my last night (morning now I suppose) on board. It was daylight of course, as it had been since our arrival in this alluring land. I climbed, for the last time, past the sign on the super-steep gangplank that read "No entry" and walked through the bridge, down three flights of stairs to my cabin across from the mess. I got into my comfortable little bunk and closed my eyes. I must have slept with a smile on my face that reflected my new love. Iceland is a wonderful place.

-Marnee

Tomakint's Update 3rd July

Hi everyone,

I woke up by 6.08am in preparation for the trip slated for the galciers today. The journey commenced at around 7.14am under a misty morning.

Although, the day was still clear enough for me to view the beautiful, well patterned edifices that lined the city of Reykjavik that morning; companies, banks, hotels, housing estates, expansive farms, gas stations, bridges, dams, geysers, volcanoes, waterfalls, vast deserts and of course the native Icelandic horse. Something seem to catch my attention as we went on, the Icelandic people are not attached to their very rich culture alone (oh yes they have a very rich culture), they seem to blend it with some flings from many parts of the world...

...especially in their musical tastes as you hear different types of music around mainly from the USA. While speeding along the highway I discovered that at times we seem to be moving round a great wide circle and on another occasion it is a straight race. I could recalled we running into the mist as we sped on, this makes visibility slightly impossible, but it didn´t last long as we broke through under a few seconds. The man at the wheel, Martin Norman, a Norwegian, is an expert "cicerone," a staff of Greenpeace, he was helpful in pointing to us places of interests while journeying to the "land of galciers" an articulate narrator whom I got attached to two days before the journey. I remembered him pulling over at a petrol station, not to buy fuel, but to buy some comestibles for sustenance at a supermarket nearby.

After driving for about two and half hours we got to a place waiting for the a guide to take us up the mountain, just ten minutes later, a Nissan jeep with a tractor-like tires pulled over where we packed and the second phase of the journey to the "land of galciers" began. It was sight to behold, as we journeyed up the extinct volcano that last erupted in the year 1948 according to our guide, Gudmundur, an Icelandic, who claimed he witnessed the last volcanic eruption in Iceland in the year 2002. Tindfjöll, as the 1,560-metre volcano is called, means "group of mountains," indeed this is so, as the volcanoes form a chain of mountains interjecting one another and buried under the misty cloud. The jeep is fitted with a Global Positioning System device; I could see the temperature reader reading 8° Celsius, as we approached the station, a little house on a 600-metre height. We visited the ice-cave, a place filled with trapped snows, slippery icy surface and there I had an interview, after that we took off for the station back to relax for another journey, this time around to the "real land of the galciers." The station is a well-planned apartment, built of hardwood painted all pink with the border painted white, there we settled down for a refreshment of coffee and doughnuts. The station house was built by a native of the land alongside his friends who came up there to settle in the 1960s of which some are late. He now shares the place with his children and grandchildren, quite a cozy environment. We took our journey from there after a 30-minute rest, trudging through the steep, slope, rough and sinking ground of volcanic ash spewed out as a result of the explosion is breath-taking, we got to our destination, a 1,230-metre height. It drizzled for about 25 minutes, this delayed the video interview myself and Marnee were supposed to grant, we later had it. What an experience to be up there, far away from the maddening crowd, I can burst into a hysterical laughter without shocking the sheer civilization of the city life, indeed Tindfjöll is a place to be, but remember to go with your warm clothes.

We are bound to have a full day, after this, our next port of call is the waterfalls, there we took some shots of another wonder of nature, watching the waters dropping from a height of about 300 metres into a shallow pool is quite amazing the water seems to be whitish when viewed from afar, but it is colourless. A horse-ride is amusing but our tired body wouldn´t co-operate, this we botched for some other day, now home bound we got to the ship by 8.18pm, then I knew today marks the beginning and the end of a trip to the "land of volcanoes," I feel fulfilled within me, an aura of satisfaction filled me up all day long, it was an experience to remember for the rest of my life!

-tomakint

Ghost ships of the past

Across from the whale watching company in the harbour lay the old Hvalur whaling fleet, four big black ships that haven’t been used for the last 16 years. Gianluca and I went there today to have a closer look. We found a gangway, and a lady on the quayside said that tourists go onboard all the time and that it was probably ok if we did.

- Iréne

We could reach two of the ships, both rather spooky in all their rustiness. We peeked in through the portholes, and Gianluca smiled when seeing the radio room: “this looks like the radio room on the ship where I first worked as a radio operator!”. The cabins looked cosy and still in pretty good shape: good old woodwork and brass. Also the deck was made of wood, starting to look pretty bad. The harpoons have been removed from the bow; the funnels and airframes were covered.

I wonder how many whales were dragged across the boards of this deck. Personally I don’t oppose whaling because I find whales magnificent and fascinating (they are!), and Greenpeace is not an animal rights organisation. Whale hunting is a threat to the biodiversity of our seas, especially in a time when whales are also threatened by toxic pollution, climate change and other factors.

We had a chat with the owner of the whale watching company across the quay, Gudmundur Gestsson. I asked him what he thought of having the old whaling ships just next to his boats. – I feel very good about that he said when tourists come I tell them that those are from the old times and this (making a gesture towards the whale watching boat) is the future. He also tells us that these are old ships, two were built in the forties and the other two are from the fifties, two are Norwegian built and two English.

Gudmundur has been trying to buy one of the whalers to turn it into a museum. The owner however does not want to sell: the ships were bought by his father who started whaling in 1946. It must cost him a small fortune to keep them alongside in the harbour year after year. According to Gudmundur the part of the ships facing the quayside get a coat of paint now and then which explains why they seemed to look even worse once we were onboard.

I turned around as we left, and looked at the rusty old ghost ships on one side and the whale watching tourists coming from the other.

Whaling belongs to the past.

Messy cabin to US Embassy

Hello from my bunk,

Yesterday Helena mentioned that our cabin is a catastrophe (she’s right) and that the extreme disorder reflects the condition of our brains (right again). To give you a better idea of the cabin, stuff is everywhere: clean clothes, dirty clothes, shoes, trash, food, pictures, pens and paper, toiletries, duct tape (why?), sand paper (don’t ask). I have no clean clothes because I haven’t done any laundry. My sheet has been bunched up at the foot of the bed for a week because I haven’t had the time to straighten it out and align it with the comforter. I can’t find my wallet or my brush or my jeans. Hey- maybe my wallet is in my jeans...

I haven’t checked my e-mail in two days. I haven’t written an update since Wednesday. I haven’t gotten more than four hours of sleep all week. Yesterday I nearly fainted at the Blue Lagoon. I can barely move a muscle, let alone stand up. I’m on the verge of tears. My hands are shaking and my throat hurts. I’ve never seen my eyes so puffy. I’m too hot then too cold. I’m exceedingly sleepy but when I close my eyes they spasm. Now my vision is blurry. I’m exhausted and totally dehydrated. Help!

It’s 10:30 and I’m still in bed. I’ve become a liability. Demet, the ship’s medic came to examine me earlier. Blood pressure: normal. Pulse: fast. Temperature: high. She brought me some orange juice and a cheese sandwich to get my electrolytes back up. Frank brought me some yogurt (high in potassium and calcium). Jari just came in to tell me that I am scheduled to go to a glacier tomorrow. Time to buck up.

I feel bad because none of this is about whales or about Greenpeace. It’s just a slice of my life and maybe you don’t care about these personal problems of chaos and health. But this is my morning, like it or not. Well, I better get going. I’ve got a cabin to clean.

Friday July 2nd End of day

I moseyed into the mess around 12:00, still in my sleep shorts and tank top, but starting to feel perkier. Guess who was there? Abbi! I couldn’t believe it. He gave me a huge hug and a kiss, and we sat down to chat. Slowly the mess filled up as the final meeting of the campaign got underway. David delivered the concluding update on the OSPAR conference- good results on CO2 dumping AND reports of constructive interactions between delegates and Greenpeacers. Abbi then spoke poignantly about attitude and opinions in Iceland regarding whaling.

Frode introduced an Icelandic man who spoke about animal rights and conservation and then discussed the history between Greenpeace and Iceland. He said that nearly 80% of the population opposed whaling in the 1970s and then after Greenpeace came in the 1980s the numbers reversed. Then we found out the results of the recently completed Gallup poll in Iceland: support for whaling has decreased from 74.6% last year to about 67% now. It’s good news that reflects the new cooperative effort launched last fall by Greenpeace when the Rainbow Warrior came to Iceland.

The meeting ended and everyone started to disperse. Abbi told me that he was going to the U.S. Embassy later for an Independence Day celebration and did I want to go as his guest. Are you kidding? That would be great! I was certainly feeling better, and this would give me an excuse to go into town for a bit of shopping ("Dress smart" he said, and we both laughed).

First I headed for the tourist office to try to find a phone. I hadn’t any luck this week finding a public phone- it turns out land lines are relatively rare since they are more expensive than mobile numbers. I found one though and used my calling card to call my mom (doesn’t accept blocked calls) and my sister (didn’t connect) so that they could help me track down my husband in Colorado. I needed to tell him that I would be coming home a few days later than expected (extra time in Reykjavik!). It was a total bust. I hope he gets my e-mail.

On to the shopping. Hey, there’s a cute skirt! Does that price tag say 45900 Kr? Isn’t that equal to 459 Euro? O.K. I’m in the wrong store. Fortunately the kind saleswoman took pity on me and directed towards some shops that might carry less pricey clothes. I lucked out and found a pair of black pants and a top on sale. I dashed back to the ship just in time to find Abbi emerging from my cabin looking dapper in a tailored suit. We greeted each other warmly and headed to the embassy in his car.

The reception was... nice. I met the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland, James Gadsden, and his charming wife Sally. Sally and I actually got along famously and I wished I could have talked to her longer. The food was tasty; the lush gardens were well tended. The weather was cooperative. I talked for a while with a guy named Raj from L.A. who has lived in Iceland for ten years as an indoor tennis instructor.

Abbi told me a little more about his life and times. He gave up a successful engineering career in Reykjavik to open the Whale Centre in Húsavik. The day we left Húsavik someone threw eggs at his car. He said his wife and daughter were justifiably upset. He didn’t like it one bit of course, but he hopes to be around when those attitudes are gone. Abbi is a very passionate person with a heart the size of a minke whale.

Abbi dropped me off at the ship at 6:50 and, after a fond farewell, I went to find Frank for our 7:00 dinner date. We walked into town and, after he tried to trick me into going to a seafood place that serves Puffin (and whale we later found out), we discovered a posh restaurant on the second floor of an old building overlooking the little lake. During dinner Frank told me about growing up in Denmark, about never wanting to be in school and how he would look out the window and envision the tree he could be climbing or the hills he could be exploring. Frank was a long-haired hippie living in a commune with friends for a few years! He’s a handsome, wise person who loves his family, hates computers, and seems happiest when he’s sailing. Did I mention how much I’ll miss him? Keep in touch Frank!

We headed back to the ship and ran into Anita and Gianluca halfway there. We turned right around and went to a coffee house to meet Pelle and two of the girls from the Greenpeace office. I only stayed long enough to say hello and then went back to the ship with the idea of catching up on my sleep.

I found Tomakint and helped him get ready for tomorrow’s adventure; then I foolishly went to the lounge. I say foolishly because I ended up staying there pretty late. I hung out chatting for a while and then Donald decided that I should not go home without learning some seamanship skills, so he taught Marta and me how to splice a rope. That was very cool! (I have the rope in my bag to take home with me.) I finally came to my cabin to go to sleep. Oh my God it’s after midnight. I have to get up at 6:00! For f----sake!

-Marnee

Velcro mode, featuring blue fluke...

Yesterday I was in "velcro mode" -- you know, that process of saying goodbye to an incomparable place and amazing people and hard work and good fun that you just want to go on forever. It feels like the sound of two pieces of velcro being pulled apart.

There were a few people on this trip that I've known for some time (the Nordic Mafia, for instance) and some like Marnee and Tomakint that I've only just met. Saying goodbye to all of them was tough.

I came back to the office to hear I'm "the most hated bloke around here." (They're a mean and jealous lot, my colleagues;-) and seeing blue whales has truly set me up for disdain among folks who have been in planning meetings. To make up for the ostracism, I find a Bermuda care package from pledge challenge contestant Lizardfish, complete with Bermuda sand and rum! Thanks you! Your messages and Miguel's (Drizzt) were great -- you guys all deserved to be here too, and were in our thoughts. (Hmm. I just typed "here" -- I guess I'm still mentally in Iceland)

I had hoped to go out with Tomakint for one more look for minke and sei whales before I left, but as Marnee notes below the weather wasn't having it. As it is, I leave Iceland seeing the rarest one of the rarest of whales, hunted to near extinction in the distant past, and have missed the fin and sei whales which our work over the last year has helped save from a new hunt.

So, Ann and Lizardfish and everyone else who has been asking about that party when Iceland actually does end whaling -- I've got the best reason to return: I still haven't seen the whales we've saved together.

Below is a video clip of that blue whale fluke, caught by our man Tor Torgersen on DV. I didn't include the audio to keep the filesize down, but the whalewatch captain is shouting "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!" in the background. This is a guy who goes out to see whales nearly every day -- but hadn't seen a blue in 7 years, and had never seen a blue's fluke before. That ought to tell you a bit about what a rare and magical treat this was. Thanks to the internet, you can enjoy it from behind your own keyboard, without the cold Icelandic wind, the splash of salty sea-spray, or the rugged Icelandic scenery in the background. Hmmm. Doesn't that just make you want to recruit a whole bunch of people to take the Icelandic whales pledge right now so you can get up there and see it personally after Iceland stops whaling?

--Brian

Whalers & whale watchers

Hi friends,

I scraped myself out of bed in time to grab my things and meet Tomakint, Irene, Jari, and Christian on the quayside for a morning of whale watching. Tor drove us over to one of the other piers, and as we were preparing to embark, a very angry man on the whale watching ship started yelling at us in Icelandic. He clearly did not want us to board. His mood was aggressive and he turned a hose on us. We all avoided the spray and Jari got his video camera out of the way just in time. The one bit of English we heard was: "I lost my job last time because of Greenpeace!" Irene was totally willing to let the man squirt her with the hose or talk to her, but the ship’s captain led him away and then apologized and welcomed us aboard. That marked the first time during this trip that someone has been confrontational to us. I expected it to happen sooner and more often to tell you the truth, but it shook me a little bit just the same.

Across the way from the Esperanza in Reykjavik harbor is the spot for whale watching tours. There are several ships with big, colorful, friendly signs for whale watching excursions. The whole area is busy with people coming and going, chatting in myriad languages. Everyone looks happy and enthusiastic; money is changing hands; business is booming. Passengers are gearing up with jackets and sunglasses. Kids are running around looking at all the cool stuff. All of these people have come to see the whales.

Ten meters away sits a fleet of whaling ships. They are parked so close together that theytouch. They’re all painted with the same dull palette and they’re mottled with rust as if diseased. They are big. They would have to be of course- whales are big. I look at these haunted ships and I see men at work. They kill for a living. Because they kill animals and not people, they are not called murderers. They are called "whalers".

The whaling ships are not quite old enough. It still looks like they could be fired up, loaded with workers and supplies, and taken out to hunt again. They make me very uncomfortable. I stare at their weathered wooden decks and wonder how much blood has washed over them. I stare at the crow’s nest and imagine the guy whose job it was to stand up there and spot whales so that the ship could chase them down and harpoon them. There’s a guy like that on our whale watching tour, only when he spots whales everyone rushes over to that side of the ship and says "Oooh!" and "Aaah!" They strain to get even a glimpse of the magnificent creatures. When our guy spots a whale, children exclaim: "I see it Mom! I see it!" When our guy spots a whale, no one gets killed.

We saw minke whales today. I thought it fitting somehow that the first whales Tomakint saw in his life were the same ones we are here trying to protect. It was sad knowing that a few Icelanders are out hunting this same species right now. We also saw some beautiful dolphins, and we visited Puffin Island. We took pictures and laughed out loud at each other’s jokes. The Scandinavian trio had a particularly fun time. I snuck downstairs for a hot chocolate and a smooch. Did I say smooch? I meant mooch, as I had forgotten my wallet again. It was a good tour, and it was especially rewarding to see the area around Reykjavik from the water.

Back to the Esperanza for a few minutes to prepare for our excursion to the Blue Lagoon. I was so tired I could barely keep moving, but I helped Tomakint get some gear together and then found my swimsuit and a towel. Soon we were on the road with Tor at the wheel of the van and Helena added to our group. I forgot my camera.

The drive to the pools was really nice actually- my first foray onto Icelandic terra firma more than about 100 meters from shore. What a wonderful landscape! Everywhere you look is dark volcanic rock with patches of soil clinging bravely to it. And growing in the soil are clumps of grass and tiny flowers. There are rare bunches of trees trying to make a comeback after near total deforestation by the Vikings. I see new development in process and hope that they plan well and keep their environment healthy.

The Blue Lagoon is a spa with a series of man-made pools filled with milky blue geothermal seawater that is pumped from underground aquifers up to 2,000 meters below the earth’s surface. The water is enriched with salts, minerals, and blue-green algae. The facilities are all first rate, with sauna, cafe, showers, lockers, and gift shop. There are spa services available including massage and skin treatments. Luckily Atlas Productions got us in for free because it’s a bit expensive for an unemployed graduate student like yours truly. Some tall, troublemaking Norwegians who send hilarious text messages call this place a tourist trap. But trap or not, the Blue Lagoon rocks.

After some video and stills, I switched to my swimsuit and went for a float. It was a warm day and the sun beat down on my skin for the first time in weeks. It felt soooooo good. The pools range in depth from knee-high to shoulder-high, and the bottom is white silica mud that you put on your face and let dry. Then you wade on over to a very powerful waterfall and rinse it off. And you may as well hang out for a minute and get a waterfall back massage as well.

The temperature of the water ranges from pretty cool in one pool to scalding hot near the vents. I like it really, really hot so I swam pretty close to the vents most of the time, off in an area by myself. I found a position that allowed me to float on my back, totally relaxed to the point of nearly falling asleep. I stayed like this for a long time and then laid out on one of the wooden decks that meanders through the main pool, not knowing yet that the bright sun and hot water were literally sucking the life right out of my tired, dehydrated body. When I woke up, I went into the locker room and showered, then waited for my friends out front where we piled into the van for the drive back to Reykjavik harbor.

Tor Torgersen is our driver. He’s a Greenpeacer from Norway and he’s in Iceland taking care of certain logistics during the campaign. I first met him in Isafjördur when he brought my long lost bag onto the ship. We’ve had several interesting conversations, and I get the feeling he’s rather complicated. He’s the one who took the incredible video of the blue whale fluking in Húsavik. Tor turns up ABBA loud for everyone in the van to sing their own personalized wrong lyrics, and he points out examples of the clean-lined architecture he prefers. Tor is extremely reflective and quite intense. When he smiles, his shy blue eyes light up.

We arrived back at the ship around 7:00 and found out that today’s guided tour was the "trip of a lifetime". The captain’s lovely wife even said that they missed having me along. I was so happy for the group to have gone but felt extremely disappointed personally. Everything they described resonated with me as the very experiences I had imagined and hoped for during my visit to Iceland. If you saw pictures you would understand. Each person I spoke to said that I should go tomorrow if possible, but it’s getting late to make arrangements and I’m not feeling that great.

Somehow I didn’t get to bed until after midnight. I blame Gianluca...

-Marnee