24 December 2005

Alain's account of Day 2, afternoon

by Alain, onboard the Esperanza

It's around noon and time for Luke, Cat and myself to relieve the crew of the Billy G. to carry on all the good work they've done so far.

The Esperanza is following the Yushin Maru no. 2 that tries to get rid of our RIBs by sailing through the ice, the Billy G. comes back on board, we refuelled her, get some advice from the previous crew and here we go, launched in this astonishing landscape... First I couldn't believe being there, driving in the middle of these icepacks, trying to find a way in this labyrinth, Cat and Luke are sitting on the bow of the Billy G., pointing me the ice, and trying to find a path for the boat...

I'm struck by the beauty of the place, this quietness, peace and harmony that surround me, while we're sailing there...

The Yushin is still away from us and I have to drive carefully, don't want to damage the boat by hitting a piece of ice, on our way we met the Mermaid heading back to the Esperanza for refuelling and crew change, they waved us, wishing us good luck...

At least we're getting to the open water, the Yushin is going back to is hunting ground, we're behind them, catching up, we've to get as close a s possible of their bow, then we can cause a great disturbance to the harpooner with our pump. As we're getting closer to the ship, we can see the harpooner, behind his gun, in position, ready to fire, we cannot see the whale yet, but we know that she's around...

For some reason our pump is not running properly, while Luke is struggling to make it working, I have just one option left: getting in between the whale and the harpoon. Cat is guiding me, she's standing on a seat in front of me, looking behind what the Yushin Maru is doing and by hand signals telling me where to put our boat...

We can see the whale trying to escape, it's swimming desperately to avoid the harpoon, I just hope that we will be able to save her. They've a great advantage: they're higher on the water, therefore they have a better view, giving the gunner enough time to take a shot...

We're swinging from port to starboard, speeding up and slowing down trying to stay in front of the catcher while they're changing course and speed chasing the whale, the harpooner tries to fool us by swinging is harpoon from side to side and pretending taking an aim but every time we're at the right spot, so close to the whale that the gunner cannot get a clear shot. Thank you Cat...

But at some point I make a mistake, putting the boat in the wrong spot, I can see the gunner turning his weapon away from us and firing, the sound freeze everyone on board of the Billy G. we stare at each other desperate: we failed...

Then we realize that things are not going according to the plan for the Yushin Maru crew, and we can see them hauling the line rapidly, at the end: just the harpoon, the gunner didn't aim properly and missed is target... Smiles are back on our face, we saved this whale, I hope it will find some place to recover...

They reload their gun, and about 20 minutes later the hunt start again, this time our pump is running, and the Mermaid is with us, we get in position, the pump is making a screen in front of the harpooner, and once again we can see the whale trying to run away, we're thinking that they will not get this one, but then we heard the loud bang from the gun, another shot, a successful one this time (it's after watching the footage from the helicopter that we realized that there was a second whale in front of the Yushin Maru, the one they shot).

I witness one of the most awful scene of my life, one of the most peaceful animal on earth struggling for is life, they shot it four times with a rifle and didn't manage to finish the job of the harpoon, we tried to interfere with the Yushin crew while they were trying to bring the whale alongside their ship, but the whale was still breathing, and fighting for
life so we back off. It's agony last for 15 minutes at least...

The Esperanza calls us back, I'm making my way towards her, I can't tell our feeling, a mixture of sadness and anger...

The only thing that rise up my spirit this day: knowing that for 6 hours The Yushin Maru no. 2 couldn't manage to kill any whale, some kind of victory.

Alain

PS: There was a panel on the side of the Yushin Maru saying: "Greenpeace barbarian pirates", hmm...

   

Comments

Posted by: Satu at December 24, 2005 10:47 AM

Posted by: Paul Bell at December 24, 2005 1:19 PM

Posted by: Richard at December 24, 2005 10:00 PM

Posted by: Neal at December 24, 2005 11:55 PM

Posted by: hugo at December 25, 2005 4:01 PM

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