I'll Be Back

Katherine, Katrin, Abbi and Lotte at the Husavik Whale Centre © Greenpeace

After we got back from whale watching Stefan, Johanna and I walked over to the Husavik Whale Center. It's a lovely museum full of very informative and interesting exhibits. If you don't know anything about whales when you go in you could sit an exam on them by the time you come out.... providing you haven't just looked at the pretty pictures!

Abbi who owns and manages the museum has collected everything himself. He's been completely fascinated with whales for most of his life and is probably the most passionate whale fan I have ever met. Yet he is a very down to earth person and not the kind of emotional "whales are magical beings" type.

In the early afternoon I had to take a phone call in the office from the BBC who wanted me to talk about my opinions on the ban on commercial whaling. BBC World was having a discussion on this subject, for their program "Talking Point", which is broadcast all around the world on radio and on TV. I was a bit nervous but I'd done it once before so knew what to expect. They had a guy from the International Fund for Animal Welfare alongside a lady from the High North Alliance talking live on the program and they asked me to comment on why I felt the ban should be left in place. You can watch the program online here. I spoke as a member of the public visiting Iceland.

Something the High North Alliance lady said was that whale watching and whaling go together nicely and that tourists will not mind if a country is a whaling. From my own discussions with tourists here in Iceland and from the 67,000 people who have taken the Greenpeace pledge - it would appear that she is wrong! Let's have a look at some statistics....

Norway started whale watching in 1986 and had 20,000 whale watchers last year out of a total of 5 million tourists. Iceland on the other hand, which does not hunt whales to the same extent or as blatantly for commercial use started whale watching in 1995 and had over 82,000 whale watchers last year out of a record breaking 360,000 tourists. I find it hard to believe that these statistics have nothing to do with the fact that Norway openly hunts hundreds of whales for profit every year.

After the interview I had to say goodbye to Stefan and Johanna who were heading off for some more sight seeing. They were my last remaining Greenpeace friends so I was quite reluctant to part with them. So then I was on my own. No place to stay (the guest house was fully booked), no Greenpeace people to lead the way. I went and bought some bread and cheese in the local supermarket and sat down by the harbour and watched more tourists pile onto the boats and go out to watch the whales and dolphins. Such a great thing to see! So many people happy to pay money JUST to see some animals, which are simply going about their daily lives, being wild and free. I really can't think of a more positive thing to make money from. Iceland is very lucky to have whales frequenting their waters. Here is a product, which you don't have to export, or process in order to sell it. You just need to know how to find it and using it doesn't reduce it. I just can't believe that some countries needlessly exterminate these precious commodities.

Later that afternoon I got chatting to the volunteers at the Whale Centre and they were very sympathetic to the fact that I had no place to stay and offered me a bed in their apartment for the night. In return I took them out for dinner.

Katrine and Lotte are from Germany and Katherine is from England. They all look after the museum and are collecting data on the whales, which visit the bay. We stayed out until about 1am and then walked up the hill away from the town centre. I walked backwards for a while looking back down over the harbour and at the low lying clouds which hugged the mountains, feeling very sad that this was my last night in Iceland. It's such a magnificent place and I didn't want to leave at all.

We set 2 different alarm clocks so that I wouldn't miss the bus. I got up at 6:30am and walked back down the hill. The girls had told me to go to the wrong gas station for the bus. However, I was fortunately redirected by a local just in time. I rested my head up against the bus window as we headed out of Husavik and whispered "goodbye" but I didn't feel sad to leave then because I knew I'd be back as a tourist, with my husband and kids in tow, when Iceland stops killing whales.

Please help us stop Icelandic whaling. Take the PLEDGE and send an E.MAIL to the government of Iceland. Then, ask your friends to do the same.

Cheers
L.

One of the beautifully restored Icelandic fishing boats, now used for whale watching

Snow on the mountains, which border Husavik

There She Blows!

Humpback whale in Husavik © Greenpeace

As soon as we woke up I called Abbi and told him we wanted to go whale watching and he very kindly organised it for us. The weather looked great, which made a nice change from the endless drizzle and cloudiness, which we'd had the past few days. As we walked through the village along by the harbour I was delighted at how picturesque it all was. Across the bay were snowy mountains reflected in the ocean and there were several brightly coloured fishing boats dotted about the harbour along with some very attractive whale watching vessels. I later discovered that these are traditional Icelandic fishing boats which have been restored. They are certainly the nicest whale watching boats I have ever seen.

Stefan, Johanna and I got on board one of them with great anticipation. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a blue whale which the Greenpeace Iceland crew had seen here last year but I was looking forward to seeing ANY species of whale since I actually hadn't seen anything apart from a fin throughout the entire trip. There are a total of 12 known cetacean species, which visit the this area and these include: orcas, Atlantic white sided dolphins, humpback, pilot, sei, minke, sperm and blue whales.

As soon as we set out from the docks we saw white beaked dolphins (very common here), which hung around while everyone tried very hard to capture one with their camera. Later, someone spotted a blow in the distance. It was a humpback and it was feeding. For those of you who don't know, you can tell when a humpback is feeding when it is deep diving very frequently and you know when it is deep diving because it raises its back and fluke high into the air before it dissapears. The nice thing about this activity is that you stand a good chance to get one of those tail shots, which everyone loves including scientists who use them for identification purposes. Naturally everyone on the boat was fighting for the best photo opportunity. It was kind of funny to watch a load of people run all over the decks frantically. I don't know who was more entertaining in the end. The humpback or the tourists?

The humpback came up and went down all around the boat for about an hour. It was so close we could hear it. At one point it made such a loud hollow snorting noise I actually felt the sound vibrations in addition to hearing them. People's cameras were clicking at several shots a second. Gaduk gaduk gadukadukaduk..... everyone was loving it!

I talked to a British couple on board who told me that they would not come to Iceland if it resumed commercial whaling. They were quite concerned about the "scientific" whaling but didn't know much about it. I know that many pro-whaling people think that whales should not be treated differently to other animals but the simple fact remains that people will not make travel decisions based on where the cows are and they will not pay large amounts of money to go onto a farm and take pictures of pigs. Telling us that there is nothing special about whales does not stop people wanting to see them alive rather than dead. If whaling countries continue to ignore this then they are the ones who will continue to lose out.

Lesley and Tony from the UK enjoy whale watching in Iceland but will go elsewhere if Iceland resumes commercial whaling

Just before we headed back to shore we spotted a minke whale, which was also feeding. I had never seen a minke before so I was very pleased. They don't do the tail thing but they can jump out of the water! So we saw 3 species out of the 12. Not bad for just 3 hours out on the water. You can do longer tours here if you want to and can even go out on a schooner.

Husavik is the whale watching capital of Europe and is well worth a visit not simply for the whales but because the entire area is extremely beautiful. However, you'll have to wait till Iceland stops whaling if you have taken the pledge and if you haven't well, what are you waiting for?.

I still want to tell you about the rest of the day in Husavik but that will have to be in another post.

Till then
L.

Journey through the Centre of Iceland

© Greenpeace Stefan takes a photo of some little pink flowers which we saw growing out of the volcanic rock in the middle of Iceland

It was really hard to say goodbye to Frode (by the way his name is pronounced more like "Fruda" - yeah I know, bizarre name! I have often resorted to "Frodo", which is easier and usually followed by Lord of the Rings innuendos), not so much because he's become a good friend but actually because he was asleep on the floor when we left Reykjavik with an eye cover thing strapped to his head, which he refused to take off. He waved his arms around in the air while wrapped in his sleeping bag and whispered "Lisa, ....give me a hug".

We'd had a long week and I think Frode probably suffered the most stress and lack of sleep out of everyone. He was the one who had to coordinate everything, meet very important people, talk to the press, the crew of the ship, the scientists! I really don't know how he does it. I haven't seen him get even slightly upset or moody throughout this trip. He is a true asset to the whales.

Sadly Frode doesn't work for Greenpeace full time anymore but we can expect to see him back again for some short projects. I know he will be back in Iceland if we ever need to go back and I think that we will need to. Whaling is not going to end in Iceland overnight. We are close but not close enough to give up. If you haven't already taken the pledge and the cyberaction please make sure you do that now (see links on right) and then tell your friends about how they can save whales so we can increase the pressure. That's what this campaign is all about. We haven't been using the inflatables to chase after whaling boats, because each and every e.mail to the Icelandic government is like a little inflatable chasing after the politicians and civil servants, which are involved in Iceland's "scientific" whaling program. Every single person who pledges to visit Iceland after they stop whaling shows that Iceland can make even more money from whale watching without whaling.

Johanna, Stefan and I got into a little rental car and headed out of Reykjavik and up into the mountains. Our first stop was the Geyser (the most famous one). It was horridly windy and wet but we braved the weather and walked up onto a muddy, rocky slope, which appeared to be letting off steam! I've never seen anything like it before. Holes in the ground were literally full of boiling bubbling water. Some cracks in the mud would not reveal anything from the surface but we could hear the crackling hot water just underneath. There were small pools filled with steaming turquoise water and one large rock pool which was THE geyser. After a few minutes the water in this pool would start to bubble and bulge in the middle and then all of sudden the bulge would push up and out very quickly so that a load of steam and water would spray 20-30 feet up into the air! I have no idea how this happens but the water rushes straight back into the hole at the bottom of the rock pool and then it happens all over again and again and again on and on while tourists come and go throughout the day. If I didn't know any better I'd think someone was controlling it with a button but the fact that this happens completely naturally is nothing short of amazing. Can anyone explain why a geyser shoots out water like this? If so, please post a comment! I don't have Internet access right now.

Our next stop was a huge waterfall which had carved a deep gorge through a beautiful green valley. We got absolutely soaked because it was raining but also because the force of so much water falling down from such a height created a lot of water vapour which rose up into the air all around the falls, swirling about like ghostly spirits. Johanna and Stefan climbed right down the steep cliffs close the the water while I hung around in the mist up at the top. The noise of the water cascading over the rocks was so loud that I almost couldn't hear my own thoughts! It was a truly exhilarating experience and probably the biggest waterfall I have ever seen in my life.

After driving through black volcanic landscape for hours, speeding along green valleys, past lakes and fjords, down mountains and through clouds we arrived in Husavik at just gone midnight. We hung our wet clothes on the radiators in the room of a little guest house and fell soundly asleep as soon as we switched the lights out.

I dreamt I was swimming alongside a blue whale.

L.

Would You Like to Be Where I Am?

This is me halfway up a mountain working on my laptop and that is not a fag in my mouth it's a lolipop! If you look closely you can see the Arctic Sunrise in the background at the docks. Look for the green hull on the left with some white writing on it.

Isafjordur doesn't look like much when you arrive at the docks but once you climb halfway up a mountain and look out over the fjord it's pretty fantastic! If you're reading this while sat at a desk pretending to be working but secretly reading Greenpeace blogs while the boss is not looking. This is the kind of place I bet you wish you were at right now. I bet you're feeling quite jealous, seeing this picture of me here and wondering how on earth I managed to go from sitting behind my own boring desk surfing Greenpeace websites to half way up in mountain in Iceland!

But don't sit there turning green trying to find some reason to hate me (I know what you're thinking!). If you want to do this kind of thing....volunteer for Greenpeace, get on a ship, climb mountains, save the planet and all that good stuff, but don't quite know where to start, my advice would be to start right HERE. I became a cyberactivist and banged on the virtual doors of Greenpeace until they heard me. So make your time surfing the web useful! Register today and don't stop looking for your way in. You should also try to volunteer at your local Greenpeace office if you have one. That's how Stefan and Johanna made it onto the ships.

While in this beautiful town, I had the pleasure of meeting the man who chased the Esperanza in small boat last year in an attempt to mimic their "stupid way" of stopping whaling. He's actually a really interesting man who supports Greenpeace for the work they do on toxics and climate change etc. He just disagrees with their stance on the whaling issue. However, the fact that this man is willing is to spend time talking to Greenpeace staff is a real achievement for the environment in Iceland. Previously, people would not only refuse to talk to Greenpeace about whales, but they would refuse to talk to Greenpeace about anything.

The ship left for Greenland today and I was very sad to see it go, with all these great people on board, which I had only just become acquainted with. Isha stood on deck waving manically at me for as long as I could see her, alongside Andrew who gave me a very laid back farewell sort of arm movement. Andrew was an awesome person to have show me the ropes of being a webbie on a ship. I'd sit next to him while we were working and ask him a load of questions and winge about things I found difficult and he would always nod understandingly and offer advice with the utmost of patience. He was always really busy with his own work but never said he didn't have time for me and never once gave me that impression yet I am sure that by the time we parted company he was relieved to have some peace and quiet!

Just before the ship pulled away, Thomas threw me his Greenpeace Norway T-shirt and said I could keep it (I'd made a comment about it earlier on the trip that it would go very nicely with my bright green flares). This nearly set me off in a pile of tears because Thomas had been quite standoffish and sarcastic with me at the start of the trip but he warmed up to me in the end and I know he's one of the people from this trip that I am going to miss the most.

I left Isafjordur at lunchtime with Frode, Martin, Stefan and Johanna, We drove back to Reykjavik and had to put up with Frode who went a bit loopy in the car due to stress and started meowing a lot. We got back very late and are just about to go out to celebrate the end of the Iceland tour. Although it is the end of the official tour it is not the end for Stefan, Johanna and myself who plan to visit Husavik in the north (where Abbi lives) and make sure there ARE still whales in Iceland! More soon.....

L.

For All those who Pledged to Visit Iceland....

© Greenpeace/Morgan On the way to Isafjordur Tweety went off again and returned a few hours later having spotted Orcas!

So the ship finally MOVED! As the engines started up I climbed up two flights of stairs after helping sort out the garbage into different recycling bins on the Poop Deck. We were leaving Reykjavik and going whale watching!

For the first couple of hours we followed a whale watching boat, hoping to catch a glimpse of some whales. Unfortunately we never saw any but I didn’t really mind since this was my first time seeing the Icelandic scenery up close.

For all of you who pledged to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling, this is the scenery that awaits you!......

Steep mountains descend straight into the ocean. Snow is scattered across the highest peaks like icing sugar. Volcanic rock is speckled with browns, grays, purples and greens. Best of all….. it’s completely devoid of development and destruction, which is my favorite kind of scenery.

I’ve just been talking to some of the crew about how to describe it. We’ve seen a lot on our way to Isafjordur, where we are now (see map on right). Everyone agrees that you can’t really describe it in words. The photos don’t even do it justice. It’s pure magic out here and once Iceland stops whaling I want you to know that you have a very special place waiting for you to explore.

Here’s what the Nordic gang came up with. Stefan says “there’s a lot of stones”. Martin says “it’s very steep”, Frode says “meow”, (not many of you may know this but sometimes Frode turns into a cat!) Johanna says “it’s dramatic”. Hmmmm, maybe I asked the wrong people? To be honest I don't think anyone's attempt can even come close to good enough.

While we were traveling north along the coast I stood at the bow of the ship trying to catch a glimpse of a whale or a dolphin or anything alive in the sea! For a short moment a large grey fin broke the surface My heart felt like it had skipped a beat and I stared out across the ocean hoping to see it once more but it had gone, vanished into the great unknown probably eating up all of the fish in Iceland, that damn whale, why don’t we kill it?

Aside from the lack of cetaceans the experience of being out on the water was amazing, as I am sure many of you can imagine. We pushed ahead right through the day and the night, cutting across huge open bays and peninsulas, watching the sun pass behind the clouds, which rested on the horizon. I stayed up until about 2am still hoping to see something magnificent rise up out of the ocean and although that did not happen the sunset and sunrise (which happens at the same time in Iceland) was probably the best one I have ever seen in my life. Of course sunsets and sunrises at sea are always pretty spectacular as long as the weather is suitable but this one was like being in a dream. Soft multi-coloured light was reflecting off the water making it look like liquid metal. I felt as if I had literally gone to one of those places they tell me to go to in my head when I am doing yoga.

The ship arrived in Isafjordur at 8am on Thursday. It is a little fishing town built around, and right out into a fjord. More soon…..

All photos © Greenpeace/ Steven Morgan

Hope for the whales

Name the place where at least 15 % of the population came to see the Arctic Sunrise. Name the place where we previously were hated but now are respected. Name the place where we will be working on environmental issues together in the future. It is Isafjordur, one of the main whaling and fisheries communities in Iceland.

The Arctic Sunrise will now be continuing to Greenland. It has been a short, intensive but great tour. We have showed commitment to the campaign against the Icelandic government. We have started working with the local population on other issues. We have seen Japan loosing numerous fights at the International Whaling Commission’s meeting in Korea, despite their vote buying tactics.

The Icelandic Government is going to release the whaling quota for 2005 very soon and there are signals that it is revising its whaling policy.

We have done our best thanks to your help. Now keep your fingers crossed!

--Frode and the team

Martin high fives Abbi after an enthusiastic discussion about Iceland's future

Captain's Log

Hello out there. My name is Arne, I am the Captain of the ARCTIC SUNRISE. I joined the ship 3 weeks ago in Amsterdam, although I joined the vessel for the first time 10 years ago immediately after Greenpeace got hold of her.

This week in Reykjavik, I heard a glaciologist explaining the situation regarding hydroelectric power in Iceland. One view, he explained, is that the current generation does not have the right to destroy large tracts of wilderness by building hydroelectric dams just because we have the technology to do so. Others of course have a different view. It struck me that precisely the same argument might be used against commercial whaling.

I strongly believe that the present generation does not have the right to continue past generations’ efforts at wiping out the stocks of large whales. We do have the technology but we should not use it for exterminating the whales. It is encouraging to notice that tourist operators and tourists alike – both in Iceland and elsewhere – in ever increasing numbers believe that whales are there to be watched and appreciated. Long may they swim!

--Arne

One the deck at 2am

WOW!

© Greenpeace

This is a message from Isha who is the assistant cook on board the ship. She had never seen a whale before this trip....... --L.

What can i say.. ...jaw freezing into a smile, heart racing down through you're toes out into the world.. heaven and earth combine, the ocean breathes.. life has a new meaning. I have seen a whale!!!

Most magnificient, most gentle, most graceful.. a hunderd dolphins in one! Words, no matter how many I put down, dont take you there.. but im going to try coz im not the same anymore...

On the 20th of June, the crew of the arctic sunrise is invited to go whale watching in Rekyavik. We excitedly accept. Thank you Pete and Martin for giving me the afternoon off!

One pm, out into the boat, eager beavers..dressed to combat rain and wind we happily set off into the bay..hoping to find some whales. Hafsulan, an icelandic whale watching company were our hosts. 1o minutes, it seemed, into the bay one engine of the boat gave way..we stopped and were told that we were going to head back..to fix the boat. Dissapointment, wetter than the rain soaked me... could I take the whole day off to see a whale? Sadly the afternoon oscilated between whether I should try again or was it some sort of a "sign"?

I was on the boat at five sharp, a little wiser and therefore warmer! The sea was kind..gentle and generous. I was excited, excited ....ummmm breathless. Complete concentration, all the time knowing deeply that I would see one..but then realising that it was not in my control at all...prayed silently, whispering to the sea to the whales..pleading! Then it appeared, elusive first..we chased it gently as best we could at the complete mercy of the being.....all together hoping the whale would stay around..we were at least 30 people on that boat all wanting the same thing together!

I have read and heard about whales being intelligent beings but a meeting with one, like we, fortunate beings had..is an understanding. I didnt know what it was thinking, but im sure it knew what we wanted..and the minke gave us all an expeience, we wont forget ever! I can see it no, every moment of those 15 minutes it swam under us, around, twirling giant beast. Graceful magnificent being..wow! wow! WOW!

It was cold, windy and sfiffly! I was wet to my bones but I felt none of it. I forgot all about the cold, the rain, the slippery deck as we ran from port to starboard following the minke.

I could reapet this story for the rest of my life, to family, chlidren, friends, I ll never forget the way it smelt.....again and again and again. Gosh! I think I'm gushing! Well its' told like it is, in my heart......forever! Thank you mother nature for your constant beauty. May we each see your magnificence and let that rule our lives eternally!

Om shanti --Isha

(photos of mike whale by Isha)

On the Nightwatch

© Greenpeace

Andrew, another web editor, arrived yesterday and is staying on the ship for the continuation of the climate campaign work in Greenland. It was really cool to meet him since I'd read many of his Greenpeace weblogs before. Some of the crew that were here when I got on have left now and new crew have boarded the ship including the two Phil's who I remember from the Pacific Fisheries web logs a while back. When you meet people you have read a lot about for the first time it feels like you are meeting celebrities. I knew that Phil 1 (the bosun) had caught a tuna in the Pacific on a rod and line and that Phil 2 had resuscitated a small child on one of the pacific islands and yet they knew absolutely nothing about me. Being a Greenpeace cyberactivist prior to coming on a Greenpeace ship has made me feel like a teenage kid who just made it backstage after a concert and is now hanging out with their favorite band. The only difference is that I probably wouldn't have to clean the toilets backstage at a U2 concert...

Andrew took me to a restaurant this evening so we could get free wireless access to the internet, but it was under the condition that we purchased a beer. I couldn't think of a better condition! I loved sitting in this funky little Icelandic place drinking Viking beer (which is REALLY good by the way), checking up on the comments here and reading about what's been happening at the IWC meeting in Korea. We worked on our laptops for hours until some Icelandic men began to heckle us from another table saying things like "hey you Greenpeace!", "we love to eat whales!", "we even eat it raw!". I turned around and politely informed them that whale meat was highly contaminated with mercury (true!!) and left it at that. Andrew ended up talking to them about climate change and whaling until 2am but I had to do the 12-4am watch on the ship so I left him at the restaurant and walked down to the docks.

At night here, it is actually really cold, like winter in the UK. Tonight there was no wind in the air at all when I walked onto the ship and started my rounds. The harbour was completely calm and silent and the sun was just starting to set. It would have been a perfect night to spend entirely outside if it weren't for the incredibly nippy temperature and the fishy smell around the ship. I spent my watch mainly up on the bridge on the computer and listening to Crowded House on the stereo. Every once in a while I went outside to make sure that nobody was walking up the ladder from the dock and every hour I went around the entire ship to make sure that nothing was on fire or leaking or suffering from some kind of breakdown. It was an easy watch since many of the crew were up either playing darts in the hold until about 2:30am or sitting chatting in the mess.

Once everyone was asleep, I realised I was responsible for the ENTIRE ship, which was a little scary but pretty cool to be given such an honourable duty, to look after our little floating kibbutz while everyone else slept.

I thought I would get lonely and sleepy doing the watch but it went by really fast and I liked it so much that when it was time for the next person to take over I decided to stay up and work rather than go to bed straight away. Just as well I planned to stay up since Andrew who was taking over from me did not get out of bed when I came to his cabin to get him but instead fell back to sleep and I had to go down and wake him up again twenty minutes later.

When it's so light outside all the time, it's quite easy to stay up all night. I had to force myself to go to bed at 5:30am. I'm only on here for a short time and I don't want to waste it by sleeping too much.

L.

From Frode with Love

Frode talks to an Icelandic reporter about whaling © Greenpeace

Yesterday the Icelandic media raised their eyebrows when the press conference started with a focus on climate change. They came expecting the usual anti-whaling message. We made the point that there is an obvious need for more research on the impact of climate change on Icelandic glaciers and fish stocks. The whaling program is unscientific, the market is marginal and shrinking and should quite simply be shut down to free the resources. Our message was well received..........

I am glad that we are here in Iceland maintaining the pressure on the government and continuing to raise awareness about this issue. There have been many Icelandic people who have come to the ship this year to voice their support. It is like we are in a different country compared with 3 years ago.

Unfortunately we do not know the Icelandic "scientific" whaling quota for this year yet but we expect it to be announced very soon. It seems Iceland may be waiting for certain decisions to made at this year’s IWC meeting, whish is currently underway in Korea. Fortunately, plans to resume commercial whaling this year have been turned down already.

Today we held a reception on climate change with Icelandic politicians, scientists and activists. This connected Icelandic voices with the ones of Greenpeace. The chairman of the Icelandic Whale Watching Association, Asbjorn Bjorgvinsson (Abbi) also made a speech and reminded us that we have his full support for the anti-whaling campaign. He said “whale-whatching is far better than whaling for Iceland”. Abbi is also the manager of the Husavik Whale Museum.

I would personally like to thank all those who have taken the pledge and e.mailed the Icelandic government. Without your support, none of this would be possible.

Frode Pleym
--Greenpeace spokesperson for the Iceland campaigns

Abbi, Frode and Phil the bosun talk about the kinds of whales, which can be found in Iceland

Sunflowers in the Toilet

Johanna painted what is now known as the "La La toilet" © Greenpeace

Faye who is one of the deckhands from India woke me up this morning at 7:30. She must have known I had signed up for cleaning and perhaps wanted to make sure I didn’t conveniently forget about it. Originally I had put my name down for cleaning the mess (the eating area) but apparently someone thought it was a good idea to make two lists, which created lots of confusion and in the end I got offered the heads (toilets) to clean. For this I took a bucket and a mop, a sponge, some very hot water, some eco-friendly cleaning stuff and a spray bottle of vinegar and went around all 5 of the toilets on board and all of the showers and gave them my undivided scrubbing attention....

Things are supposed to be more dirty than usual on a Monday since the crew is let off cleaning duties on Sunday. However, it was not a difficult job at all and nothing was really nasty or smelly. I had quite a fun time, sloshing the bucket around and singing to myself…until someone told me to can it because “at any time of the day, someone is likely to be sleeping”. Although that may be true I actually think it was his polite attempt to silence the off-key noises emanating from my throat.

I opened one bathroom door and was delighted to find it had been completely painted with colourful pictures of the planet, stars, a miniature version of the ship and sunflowers all around the toilet. I stood back and admired the artwork but suddenly found myself bursting into a fit of tears. My mother passed away last month and she painted sunflowers all around the toilet in one of the bathrooms where I grew up and it reminded me so much of her. Being reminded of such a wonderful memory is a good thing but I was balling my eyes out and trying to mop the floor at the same time hoping nobody would notice and think that I was really upset about having to clean the heads!

Later on I happened to see Phil, the new bosun who has just arrived, and I informed him that a large section of rubber on one of the steps was hanging off and needed to be fixed. He took a look at it and said to me “You’ll need to take the entire piece off and get a new edge for the step” and then he looked down at his feet and said “Oh look at this floor tile, which needs some new screws, why don’t you take care of that too?”

Phil took me to the hold (a huge room, which holds the helicopter when it needs to) and pointed to some things I needed. I ended up with some screws of unknown diameter, a triangular metal thing with a handle and a piece of rubber edging for the step at which point he said “You’ll need to clean this with paint thinner first, which you’ll find on the Poop Deck.” So off I went pretending to know where the Poop Deck was and thought I might eventually find it just by looking around the ship. In the end I found the captain and asked him where it was and due to my curious mind I also asked him “Why is a Poop Deck was called a “Poop Deck?” He said he had no idea. So, if anyone knows please post the answer in the comments section (I wonder if it really does have anything to do with poo?). It appears that there is no sailor on this ship that knows the answer and I think the Icelandic campaign risks facing certain failure if we do not find the answer soon!

Faye ended up helping me to fix the step, or rather she ended up doing most of it since every time I asked her “Is this good enough?” she told me “No, all this stuff needs to come off” and I tried several different scraper things to no avail so I left her fighting the battle, because she seemed to be doing a much better job than me. I fixed the floor tile instead.

My best advice for anyone thinking about working on a Greenpeace ship would be not to point out anything that is broken unless you don’t mind being the one to fix it and possibly anything else that is broken nearby too!

L.

Changing Hearts and Minds

Stefan and Johanna have been standing in the rain for the whales every day © Greenpeace

Here is an update written by Stefan and Johanna, two of the volunteers responsible for the open ship......

In Iceland communication is the key to success, and our days consist of constant talking to people. We also invite people onboard the Arctic Sunrise to have a look around and to let them know more about the campaign.....

Both of us were onboard the Rainbow Warrior two years ago when Iceland resumed whaling. Back then we were very unpopular and people hardly stopped to talk to us. We have spent a lot of time trying to change the public view of Greenpeace and the general opinion on the whaling issue here in Iceland. As we are back again we can see how the public opinion has turned and still is turning into the favour of the whales. Now most of the people stop to talk to us and they take the handouts we give them.

Talking to people is great, especially when you feel that you are talking about an important topic. The whaling issue is an issue that most of the Icelandic people can relate to and therefore find interesting. Greenpeace is arguing that watching whales and hunting whales are two things you can't combine. And this is an opinion that seems to sink into the public's minds.

The last two days the weather has been beautiful with lots of sun and good opportunities to go whale watching and explore the surroundings of Reykjavik. Today unfortunately the weather has been rainy, which makes our work more demanding since the handouts gets wet, we risk catching a cold and the ships gangway gets slippery. We are quite impressed by the Icelandic people's willingness to withstand rain and chilly winds. But since the weather often is really unstable we guess they're used to it.

Take care and make sure you put some pressure on the Icelandic government to withdraw their whaling plans. Together we all make an excellent team addressing the politicians and the people on this important topic!

Kind regards,
Stefan and Johanna - your voice in Iceland

Ice Man

Magnus arrives back from the glacier © Greenpeace

It's been raining on and off all day today and being Sunday not much was really going on. I spent my time editing photos and the blog entries, while we had an open ship and many of the crew, who are leaving tomorrow, spent some of their final day sight seeing. I received the following comments from the scientist who flew in the helicopter yesterday. There will be a public announcement tomorrow regarding what he discovered during the visit to the glacier but here are some words from the "Ice Man" himself....

"Being a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, I do a fair amount of teaching. My lecturing is mainly on how physics is applied to the study of the solid earth, but I also lecture on volcanoes. This includes how volcanoes interact with the surface of the earth, and in particular, how glaciers and volcanoes interact. Most of the research that I have been doing in the last several years is concentrated in this particular field. Although the effects of climate on glaciers are not really a part of my research, climatic effects cannot be ignored in my field of work. One of the tasks that I and my coworkers carry out is mapping changes in the shape and height of Mýrdalsjökull, the southernmost icecap in Iceland. Beneath this icecap lies the large caldera volcano named Katla, one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes in Iceland. And what has been very prominent over the last few years is a very rapid thinning and retreat of the outlet glaciers of Mýrdalsjökull, although the high icecap has as yet been little affected.

If the last 10 years had been an exception from a relatively stable climate there would be no cause for concern. But that is not the case. The records of glacier extent that have been collected by the Iceland Glaciological Society show that the last 80-100 years have been a period of very rapid decline in the size of the glaciers. This is a clear consequence of the warming that has taken place in Iceland. There is overwhelming evidence for the case that this warming, which is global, is caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If predictions of rapid future warming are correct, a century from now the glaciers in Iceland will only be small remnants of what they are at present. This would be a major loss for the richness of Iceland's natural landscape and would cause disruption in various ways. That would be regrettable of course. But the global consequences of the predicted warming such as sea level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather and drought in many parts of the world, are the main issues for the environment today."

Magnús T. Guðmundsson

Tweety

Hughie the helicopter pilot © Greenpeace

I got to sleep at about 2am and woke up at 7am for no apparent reason except maybe because we're in Iceland! There are whales and volcanoes and glaciers here and these are not things, which make you want to stay in bed.

Today was a glorious day and I think I am even a little sun burnt. Who would believe Iceland could be this hot? This leads me straight to the topic of climate change....

The glaciers in Iceland are retreating but scientists often don’t have the money to measure this effectively so Greenpeace is helping some glaciologists here get the data they need. The best thing we have to offer is a bright orange helicopter called Tweety and a Scottish helicopter pilot called Hughie.

Unfortunately the departure of Tweety from the deck of the ship was delayed because the fuel pump had a major pumping problem in that it was not pumping any fuel anywhere. While I was waiting to capture an m.peg movie of Tweety taking off I thought I would look around the ship since I only knew where my cabin was and how to find the galley. That’s not actually too bad but just as I was discovering the toilets a ray of sunshine with a giant smile popped out from one of the rooms and offered to show me around. It was Thom the radio operator who was the first friendly face to greet me on the ship and who is now bouncing off the walls in the server room, where I am writing this. He’s definitely got the most energy and enthusiasm of the crew, which must be fairly unique to still have after 15 years of working for Greenpeace on ships. He’s an optimist who would actually like to be described as “shy”.

Martin and Erika went with Magnus, the Icelandic scientist, in the helicopter to look at a glacier while I stayed on the ship and took lots of photos and got to know the crew a little better. Many people drove up to the ship today to look at it and volunteers handed out leaflets to them through their car windows. We also had an open ship and about 30 or so people were able to come on board and get a full tour. I even gave someone a tour myself and talked to a few tourists who came by the ship in the early evening. After hearing about the stuff we were doing here, they were very keen to support Greenpeace, which is always good to hear. Today I really started to feel a part of the team and am looking forward to taking that one step further by joining the cleaning rota on Monday. Oh joy!

Watching Tweety take off and land again on the ship was certainly the highlight of the day. I’ve got a great little movie of the lift off, which will hopefully be up on this site soon.

Tomorrow we have an open ship from 1pm-5pm. All are welcome, even whalers!

L.

Arrival in Reykjavik

Frode writes a campaign update © Greenpeace

The MV Arctic Sunrise arrived in Reykjavik today, which is the National Day of Iceland. There are 24 people on the ship, which is now docked in the harbour. In addition to the whales campaign we are also here to focus on climate change.

On the way here from Amsterdam the ship encountered 2 pods of Orcas, dolphins and one lone minke whale. Unfortunately I missed all that excitement since I only got here this afternoon. However, I think it seems strange that they saw only one minke whale on their way to Iceland. Aren’t there supposed to be thousands of them out there?

For me, the day started out as I was arriving in London from Bermuda at 6:30am. I had to get 4 different trains from Gatwick to Heathrow airport and then another flight to Iceland. I finally made it here by 6pm just in time for dinner on the ship.

It was a very surreal experience to sit in the galley and have a meal for the first time on a Greenpeace ship. It was the kind of stuff cyberactivists like me spend hours daydreaming about. Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to speak to many people because I had to hurry up and get to work. These guys are slave drivers I tell ya!

Those crewmembers that I did manage to meet were all very friendly and welcoming. I want to talk to everyone in depth and find out about their own personal experiences with Greenpeace and how they feel about working in Iceland. Hopefully I’m going to have enough time to present a “behind the scenes” look at what goes on during this campaign alongside detailing all of our activities.

Frode, the spokesperson for the campaign, is back in Iceland with Greenpeace just for this project. He is leading a team from the Nordic office, which includes Martin from Norway who is the campaign handy man doing logistics, research, stills and video editing in addition to speaking fluent Icelandic. Thomas, also from Norway, is our multi talented volunteer who is mainly assisting Martin with logistics. Then there is Erika from Sweden who is our communications officer.

We just had a meeting outside in the fresh Icelandic air. It’s nearly midnight now and I knew it would still be light but actually seeing the sky lit up with soft pinks and blues and a moon floating above the snow-scattered mountains is really something else. Reykjavik is a beautiful city, which has taken me completely by surprise. I usually dislike cities but Reykjavik has an incredible uniqueness to it and I am already falling in love with the place. It seems a shame that Iceland is preventing over 66,000 people from coming here because they choose to continue “scientific" whaling.

Frode and his team have been arranging a press conference, a reception and an open ship day together with various trips and meetings. We have so many ideas and plans, which we need to start putting into action. It’s going to be a hectic week, a week I should perhaps try to get some sleep for. My total time awake without sleep now is 37 hours.

L.

The Truth behind 'scientific whaling'

The Japanese invented the concept of 'scientific' whaling in 1987 as a way round the moratorium on commercial whaling instituted by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Their research is not really research. It is an excuse for supplying whale meat on the Japanese market, though that market is dying.

The Japanese invented the concept of 'scientific' whaling in 1987 as a way round the moratorium on commercial whaling instituted by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Their research is not really research. It is an excuse for supplying whale meat on the Japanese market, though that market is dying.

The "science" they perform consists of DNA sampling, physical measurements such as earbone size, age ID, and most importantly, the contents in the digestive tract.

Australia and many other countries use non-lethal data collection techniques, such as "knicking" the skin of a whale for biopsy samples to determine DNA and toxin levels. Analysis of faeces is the most accurate way of determining the animals' diet. Also, tagging whales with data sensors and tracking their movements tell us much more about their behavior and life patterns than any forensic data could provide.

The Japanese data is selectively released in order to support arguments that whales each too many fish and need to be culled to prevent fish stock loss - and argument long since rubbished by credible marine scientists.
Iceland is just following Japan's example of taking advantage of IWC loopholes, as an excuse to resume commercial hunts.

Iceland intended to catch 500 whales in 2003 and 2004 (200 Minke whales, 200 Fin whales and 100 Sei whales). Don't be fooled by the terminology. It is not research, it is commercial whaling. Nobody needs 500 whales, most from the same species (minke), and from the same feeding ground, to "research" anything of importance.

Clearly there could be no 'scientific' justification for this level of whaling - the Government of Iceland was once again trying to resume commercial whaling via the back door, with an eye on the lucrative Japanese export market.
The planned take of 500 animals did not happen.. Japan - the main market for whale products - wants to sell meat and blubber from their own "scientific" program and have denied numerous requests for imports from Iceland. In total Iceland has caught 61 minke whales since the resumption of whaling, Strong domestic criticism combined with the lack of a market for whale products are the key factors for the reduction.

IWC rejects Iceland's scientific programme

In a strongly worded resolution at the 2003 meeting of IWC, the Commission fired a shot across the bows of Iceland's whaling industry which plans to commence a scientific hunt for export to Japan possibly as early as this summer.

During the debate, members of the Commission restated the concerns of Scientific Committee members who had reviewed Iceland's research proposal, and scientific whaling in general. Thirty nine of the Scientific Committee's national delegates from many different nations had concluded that, not only was Iceland's research proposal poorly contrived and unlikely to yield relevant results, but that it was 'deficient in almost every respect'. Below is a summary of some of their reasons:

1) IWC scientists have already unanimously agreed on the scientific aspect of a management system. The system does not require any of the data provided by Iceland's "research" programmes.

2) Articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establish that all countries must "cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organisations for their conservation, management and study

3) The management plan agreed by IWC scientists requires only information that can be obtained without killing whales.

4) UNCED said that because of their special status under international law as highly migratory animals and as marine mammals, the management of cetaceans can be more strict than that of other marine species, including a prohibition on their catching. There was no "list of resources open to sustainable use and development" approved at UNCED and there was no "explicit rejection" of whales from this purported list.

5) The Scientific Committee Working Group has also agreed that the data produced by killing whales is "not required for management".

6) Of the 5000 minke whales stomachs so far 'sampled' by Japanese whalers in the Antarctic, every one has contained krill and only krill, a fact that was known long before the 'research' began.

Whale watching - the future?

Over the past decade whale watching has shown a potential to become far more profitable than whaling ever was. Worldwide, an estimated nine million people go whale watching every year in 87 countries. This number has increased on average by 12% annually since 1991, and looks set to rise. It is a billion dollar industry. 34 of the 40 member countries (85%) of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) now have a domestic whale watching industry.

Ironically, the most explosive growth has been in Iceland, which has experienced 250% annual growth since 1994, making the industry far more valuable to the Icelandic economy than commercial whaling ever was. Tourism has become one of the major sources of income in Iceland in recent years. Whale watching attracts around 82,000 tourists yearly and is worth more than $18 million USD a year to the Icelandic economy.

Even the figures for Norway and Japan, the two greatest advocates of commercial whaling, show a growth rate far above the average. Whale watching in Norway has grown 18% per year since 1994, earning an annual revenue of $12 million, while in 1998 102,785 people went whale and dolphin watching in Japan, spending an estimated US$33 million.

Under it's charter, the IWC must ensure the "optimum utilization" of whale stocks - more and more of the IWC's member nations promote whale watching not hunting, as the best way to do this. Australia and Brazil even pushed for sanctuaries in the South Pacific and Atlantic oceans at the 1998 conference. However, the move was defeated because the Japanese government had already "bought out" other member states votes.

The IWC is uniquely placed to address environmental threats like contamination and pollution to the world's whales. It must begin to work as an international whale commission and put whaling in the past.

Key dates in the history of the whaling campaign

Commercial whaling during the last century decimated most of the world's whale populations. Estimates suggest that between 1925, when the first whaling factory ship was introduced, and 1975, more than 1.5 million whales were killed in total.

Whalers have hunted one whale population after another, moving from species to species as populations declined from exploitation. After repeated requests from the world community, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agreed to a moratorium on commercial whaling that came into effect in 1986. But three countries continue to hunt whales: Norway, Japan and Iceland.

The story so far:

1905: The introduction of factory ships leads to massive growth in the whaling industry. These floating processing plants are able to decimate whale populations at the rate of up to 40,000 a year.

1930: 80% of the the great whale species are feared to be on the verge of extinction.

1946: The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is created by the world's 14 whaling nations to manage whale stocks.

1972: The number of blue whales, the largest creatures on the planet, sinks to less than 6,000.

Greenpeace zodiac manouvres itself between two Russian whaling ships. North Pacific Ocean, 1975.(c)Greenpeace/Weyler

1975: Greenpeace launches its anti-whaling campaign, confronting whaling fleets on the high seas. Faced with the grisly realities of commercial whaling, public opinion begins to turn against the whalers.

1979: The anti-whaling lobby gains ground at the IWC, which establishes the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary as a practical conservation measure.

1982: The IWC is successfully lobbied to establish a moratorium on commercial whaling, taking effect from 1986.

1983: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) bans international commercial trade in whale meat and confers protected status on the world's great whales.

1987: Japan begins its so-called "scientific" whaling programme.

1990: Seven out of the nine remaining whaling nations agree to abandon the industry.

1993: Norway lodges an objection to the moratorium and resumes commercial whaling, killing 500 minke whales per year.

1994: Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary created to protect the great whales in their breeding grounds.

1994: Survey results show that over 5 million people go whale watching in 65 countries. This eco-tourism is actually more profitable than commercial whaling.

1998: Brazil proposes a Southern Atlantic Sanctuary. Australia and New Zealand propose Southern Pacific Sanctuary.

1999: Japan's steps up its vote buying strategy at the IWC, and establishes a "blocking minority" to prevent the creation of a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary.

2000: Japan and Norway attempt to remove the protected status of whales at the CITES meeting in Nairobi in April 2000. If successful this would pave the way for a return to international trade in whale products.They fail by a narrow margin.

1999/2000: Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise confronts Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. 1999 The MV Sirius carries out similar work off the Norwegian coast.

2001: Whale watching is now a thriving industry in 87 countries, generating an income of US$1 billion worldwide each year. Japan admits to using overseas aid to buy support from developing nations for a return to commercial whaling. Greenpeace confronts the Japanese fleet and films a whale being harpooned in the Southern Oceans whale sanctuary.

2002: Japan uses votes bought from 14 other nations to block whale sanctuaries and deny indigenous peoples subsistence quotas - at the IWC meeting in Shimonoseki, Japan. Mexico creates the world's largest national whale sanctuary - in all of its EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) in the Pacific, Atlantic and Carribean Sea - to protect 21 species of cetaceans. Iceland is voted in as a full member of the IWC - despite refusing to follow the rules and despite their intention to resume whaling in 2006.

2003: Iceland resumes 'scientific' whaling - but as a response to international and domestic pressure, combined with a lack of demand for whale meat, the quotas are radically reduced from 200 whales of three species, to 61 whales of one species over two years. The SV Rainbow Warrior engages in a dialogue with the Icelandic public.

2004: Iceland catches 25 minke whales. MV Esperanza visits Iceland. The domestic market is failing, no export is in sight and opposition is larger than anticipated.

2005: Japan and Norway both announce increases in their whaling quotas. Press reports suggest Japan will extend its Antarctic 'scientific' whaling to include the endangered Humpback and Fin species. Greenpeace sends a vessel to Iceland for the third consecutive year; the MV Arctic Sunrise.

Posted by Irene at 10:24 AM