1 January 2007
2006: The Year in Pictures
By Helena on the Esperanza, and Adele struggling after too much champagne in Stockholm
As another year passes by, and I try to catch up with it, Helena has been chatting with the crew about their involvement in Defending Our Oceans. For many this is the second or even third leg of the trip. There are a number of crew who are heading back down to the Southern Ocean, but some will be disembarking in New Zealand.
2006 was an amazing year. Having sailed across oceans and working on a number of campaigns; whaling, pirate fishing, tuna ranching, pollution, oil spills, marine debris and destructive coastal development. Here are some stunning pictures to reflect on the year behind us…and inspire some resolutions for the year ahead.
When Helena talked to the crew about their memorable moments in defending our oceans, she received a mixture of responses. For some, it was connected to nature - seeing something beautiful, others it was about people - experiencing and working with different cultures, and others it was seeing an idea turn into actions, others it was witnessing a change or a new realisation about the world we live in. For still others who shall remain unnamed, it was the knitting epidemic that saw a whole new range of handmade headwear emerge from the crew lounge! (Knitting seems to break out periodically on our ships in times of rough weather).
Captain Pete has been on board for much of the year, from Capetown to the Azores, West Africa , Singapore to Honolulu, the Philippines, and now from Mexico to New Zealand. The conditions in Africa made a special impression on Pete. “The conditions which fisherman work in are appalling, contrasting with the ruthlessness and dishonesty of the owners and companies which own the ships. Poor people are exploited without principle for commercial greed. Bribery is rife and fishing grounds are being raped and destroyed. Everyone know this but short term greed prevails. Its unacceptable,” he says.
Pete also learnt that there is no part of the worlds oceans not polluted with plastic. “Its’ horrifying – 50 years and we’ve covered the globe in it!”
Emily remembers that this time last year, we were already confronting whalers in the Southern Ocean. She recalls: We were in the Southern Ocean, it was the 21st dec - longest day of the year. We were blessed with a calm sunny day; a welcome break after many weeks of rough weather. The captain decided to stay put and shut off the engines, and wait; We still hadn’t found the whalers. That night we all enjoyed the stillness and beauty of where we were. The next morning we found the whalers and all sprung into action.”
So as we start thinking about New Years Resolutions, maybe yours could be something seemingly small but with big potential - add just one idea to the list at whales.greenpeace.org.
Comments
Hi all:
The photo of a pile of frozen shark carcasses was stunning in its implications.
Seems we ignore the demise of some species at their peril.
Posted by: echo at January 1, 2007 6:59 PM
Not sure if you are aware, but Amazon.com is selling shark fin soup, take a look at http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Rim-Gourmet-Dragonfly-Shark/dp/B0001RIQLW
Posted by: Felix Leander at January 3, 2007 3:41 AM
Thanks Felix - I love the tags that people have applied:
"animal cruelty (9), shameful (5), disgusting (4), extinction (3), horrible (2), disgusting wasteful (1), shark fin soup wasteful waste (1), soup (1), stupid (1), stupidity (1)"
Seems Amazon has removed the product for now...but we are looking into it.
Unfortunately, they still seem to be stocking this:
Posted by: Adele at January 4, 2007 12:24 PM
Hi Felix,
Thanks for bringing our attention to this. I checked out the link you provided above and noticed that the soup is no longer available. It is however, being sold by another producer (Roland) on Amazon. I am currently investigating this and will let you know what I find out.
Lisa (Greenpeace International Oceans Unit)
Posted by: Lisa at January 4, 2007 2:38 PM
It would be really great if GREENPEACE HONG KONG could somehow get involved in the battle against Shark Fin Soup.
After all, Hong Kong is 'Ground Zero' for the problem with over 70% of all shark fins traded globally passing through this city...
Posted by: Alex at January 4, 2007 5:15 PM
It seems that Amazon.com is carrying shark fin soup through a third-party vendor, Pacific Rim Gourmet. With all the controversy surrounding shark fins and the horrible practices used to harvest fins, Amazon should be ashamed to be carrying shark fin soup and should rectify the problem immediately by pulling all shark fin products from their catalog.
What you can do:
- Leave feedback at Amazon's product page for Dragonfly Shark Fin Soup
- Send e-mail to Pacific Rim Gourmet at customerservice@pacificrim-gourmet.com and write a letter of protest to:
Pacific Rim Gourmet
75-5660 Kopiko Street, Suite C7-210
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 - Write to Amazon.com at Advantage Customer Service (advantage@amazon.com) and
Investor Relations (ir@amazon.com) - Spread the word through your webpage, blog, etc.
- Boycott Amazon.com until they comply
- Join our discussion in the Wetpixel.com forums
Posted by: Alex at January 4, 2007 5:51 PM
Posted by: Adele at January 8, 2007 5:46 PM
Hi Alex,
Thanks for you comments and suggestions.
Dragonfly shark fin soup is currently not available through Amazon.com. However, shark fin soup sold by Roland is available on their website (http://www.amazon.com/14-1-SHARKFIN-SOUP-CRAB-MEAT/dp/B00019FVV8/). I have spoken with representatives from Amazon.com on the phone but I was not able to find out why the Dragonfly shark fin soup was not available and nor could they tell me what Amazon planned to do about the other soup sold by Roland. I'm now writing to the head office and I will let you know what I find out as soon as possible. In the meantime if anyone wants to follow Alex's suggestions above that would great. You can also call Amazon using the following numbers.
U.S. and Canada: 1-800-201-7575
International: 1-206-266-2992
Thanks
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa at January 12, 2007 11:29 AM
Hi to the Master and All Crew,Welcome to New Zealand.We saw on tv 1. Main news last night the program of your southern ocean trip.Kiwis support what you are doing.Take great care,best wishes,we are following you all. Regards
Larry Mercer.
Dean Baigent-Mercers Pa.
Posted by: larry mercer at January 25, 2007 10:44 AM
As the owner of Pacific Rim Gourmet, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the various negative posts regarding our selling Shark Fin Soup.
First of all, this was never out of "greed or profit". We had a request from a customer to sell "Shark's Fin Soup" about 4-5 years ago. We bought ONE CASE (12 cans)...and still have 5 cans left ($3.99 a can...do the math). Obviously, no huge market purchasing from us! When we purchased the case, we were not aware of any of the practices your members have described and it was a legal product in the United States and still is.
Based on our newfound knowledge of the product, I believe your efforts should be directed to the manufacturers and importers of this product and the U.S. government, not to a mom-and-pop, trying to make it from week to week kind of small company.
We have been hoping to sell the remaining cans and be able to remove the product from our site as it was in no way worth the aggravation of receiving hate mail nor did we want to continue promoting the practice. However, we thought it was better to sell the cans than to throw them in the garbage and have it been for a total waste of an animal...but I guess not! It has been removed from our inventory and it will not be re-added at a future date.
Thank you for your time.
Posted by: Debbie at January 29, 2007 1:25 AM
All updates from the Southern Ocean whaling 2007 leg »
All updates from the Pacific transit »
All updates from the Mexico leg »
All updates from the Hawaii leg »
All updates from the Pacific leg »
All updates from the Philippines leg »
All updates from the India leg »
All updates from the Red Sea leg »
All updates from the Mediterranean leg »
All updates from the Azores leg »
All updates from the Pirate Fishing/Africa leg »
All updates from the Southern Ocean »
Avast ye land lubbers! The ocean critters need your help!
Take action today!
