Ocean Defenders - the weblog

Zeger - 3rd mate

3rd Mate - (Esperanza)

Netherlands

Hello my name is Zeger; I am 3rd mate on board of the Esperanza.

Most of the time I am sailing as skipper on a traditional sailing barge in Holland. We try to give people a nice holiday on board, and make them a little bit more aware of their natural environment, its beautys and its threats.

In winter time I sometimes sail on Greenpeace ships which is very important to me because it gives life this extra meaning, the feeling you can do something for the environment, make a little difference. The reason I like to do this via Greenpeace is that they are mainly focused on our Oceans, which is where life began. We are only starting to understand what is in them. You don't want to destroy the oceans and their contents.

At least I don't.

Freddy - 2nd engineer

Freddy

3rd Engineer / Electrician (Arctic Sunrise)

Mar del Plata, Argentina

How did you come to work for Greenpeace?
I came to the Greenpeace ships on March 19th 2002 to this same ship which was moored in Melbourne, Australia. Before that I worked for years for a nasty oil tanker company. The tanker I was due to join was delayed and while waiting I met by coincidence a schoolmate I hadn't seen for years who was sailing with Greenpeace. To keep it short, when the tanker company called to tell me the oil tanker had arrived I told them I wouldn't embark because I was joining a Greenpeace ship. They didn't like it.

What do you love most about working on the Greenpeace ships?

I like to live in a Babel Tower where you see people from all around the
globe working as a team but at the same time keeping their own culture or whatever
predominant culture they have left.

Pete - Captain

Pete - Captain

Cornwall (UK)

I've been involved with Greenpeace since 1978, and helped convert the Sir William Hardy which became the Rainbow Warrior, and sailed on her first voyage. I also became Captain on that voyage. She was the first ship that we had in Europe and she eventually came to a violent and untimely end on the bottom of Auckland harbour.

The first campaign I ever did was against the building of Torness Nuclear Power Station in Scotland and from there we went to Iceland and an anti-whaling campaign. My last campaign was about oil transportation and pirate fishing in the Barents Sea.

I've been involved with many campaigns over the years. The environmental abuses which Greenpeace challenges and takes action over, have taken me into all the world's oceans and a good many of the countries bordering them. I've worked on Campaigns from Antarctica to the Arctic, in the Amazon and other rivers and ports and coastal waters throughout the world.

In between times I have worked on commercial ships and I studied to get my professional qualification, which used to be called Master Mariner and is now known as "Master: Limitations Applying - None", which doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Defending Our Oceans is an exciting and innovative Campaign.

- Pete

Starship Esperanza and the Plasma Cutter

By Helena, onboard the Esperanza

Captain Picard...I mean, Pete

As I roam the corridors I keep hearing talk of an impending plasma cutter delivery. When I overhear Captain Pete and first mate Paul discussing the 'plasma cutter' I realise things are starting to resemble a Star Trek episode and I am now on the Starship Esperanza with Captain Pete Picard and Klingon Paul, and their trusty radio operator Spock. The plasma cutter might come in handy as we navigate through the upcoming Pacific asteroid field. Not only will it lead us through wormholes and warp space-time, it is really good for cutting steel. While the latter function excites the engineers, the former is the one I am holding my breath for. I mean who doesn't want to engage in some time travel?]]> I'd begin with the past, travelling to the a time before this stretch of ocean had encountered fishermen and whaling ships - how many magnificent marine creatures would we see? Imagine all the whales and sea monsters. Okay maybe we can skip the monsters [Editor's note: Jeez, what kind of self-respecting sci-fi episode is this Helena? Bring back the monsters! Um...right. Back to warp speed.].

So what would I see if I went forward in time? If we continue as we are now we might not ever come across sea birds circling, flying fish flying, dolphins surfing and whales breaching. Scarier than the monsters. I shudder as I shake that thought and replace it with images of an ocean once again teeming with life. We need to maintain our 'esperanza' and keep pushing for positive action. That includes YOU become and ocean defender.

Meanwhile, a few hours later, stardate 18.3 *insert clunky visual transition here*

Turns out we lost the cyber porthole for a while there and I was unable to go online. Also the plasma cutter never did show up, it got stuck in Mexico City. (How old skool - I mean, no-one could even work out how to get it to bend the space-time continuum so it would show up on time.) So there goes my time travel plans - although am happy to be here now. I realise now is the only time we can do something to ensure in the future we are NOT sailing across oceans only populated by plastics - with or without the plasma cutter.

I was there: how the Southern Ocean Sanctuary came to be

Over the next few weeks we'll be bringing you stories from the Esperanza as well as from some of our deskbound warriors. As we leave Puerta Vallarta in Mexico, and prepare to confront whaling in the Southern Ocean, our resident whales guru John Frizell reflects on how the Southern Ocean Sanctuary was created when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met in this very place in 1994.

It had been a long road to the 1994 IWC meeting in Puerto Vallarta. Two years before, when I raised the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary with one powerful delegation, I had promptly been put in my place. “Find me one country, just one, that’s backing this and I’ll listen to you.” A year later, when France proposed the Southern Ocean sanctuary, support was growing but it was not strong. When the IWC held a vote that could not approve the sanctuary, but could kill it off, we were lucky to survive.

]]> There was a lot at stake. The Southern Ocean is home to 80% of the world’s whales. Any future commercial whaling industry would have to be based there. And the government of Japan was investing in counting the whales of the Antarctic so that a whaling industry could be re-established and claiming that the minke population was rapidly growing and competing with the critically endangered blue whales, preventing their recovery. (They had not yet thought of blaming whales for the demise of fish stocks. When the IWC’s scientific committee studied Japan's minke/blue whale claim, not even the Japanese scientists could support it.)

If we could establish the sanctuary, not only would it protect the whales in their feeding grounds but it would overlap with the Indian Ocean sanctuary, which protected the warm water calving grounds and migratory routes. For the first time ever, populations of whales would be able to live their entire lives in a sanctuary.

The Government of Japan needed just 26% of the votes, 9 out of the 32 voting members, to block the sanctuary. And they had brought their paid allies, small island states who supported Japan on every vote in return for aid packages. The Solomon Islands, whose officials later admitted selling their vote to Japan, was rumoured not to be attending but then showed up at the last moment. The numbers looked very close... But the paid delegations, who were normally quick to oppose any move to protect whales, were uncharacteristically quiet. As the vote got closer, one of the paid allies walked out, muttering that they did not want to be here for ‘this farce.’.

It got stranger. Japan, which had clamed that all whale sanctuaries are illegal, proposed its own sanctuary , covering all waters around the Antarctic, but with an exemption to allow minke whales to be hunted. (They even proposed that fin whales be totally protected for 80 years. Twelve years later they plan to catch 10 fin whales in the Antarctic (2006/07), and 50 next year.) Finally on 26 May, 1994, the real Southern Ocean sanctuary, which banned all whaling in the area, was approved by a vote of 23 to 1.

The party went on all night. There were fireworks. Everyone who had been involved in lobbying was thrown into a swimming pool. It’s surprisingly easy to swim in a suit although I did take my tie off.

The next morning I showed up late and found a meeting room that was almost empty; large delegations reduced to single placeholders. But the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary was in place. And despite Japan’s many attempts to overturn it, the most recent in June 2006, it still is.

- John Frizell, Oceans Campaigner

Introducing Helena

By Helena, your new webby onboard the Esperanza

You might recognise Helena as
"that girl in the helmet on the
Greenpeace homepage"

Hello. Hola. I am really here. So its time to bid farewell to wonderful webby Irene. I am still trying to find ways I can trick her into staying onboard. I’ve toyed with the idea of force – locking her in the storeroom but there’s no room as we just provisioned for our next leg at sea. Now I am working with the idea of persuasion - stringing up a hammock and offering free sunset cocktails. It seems to work for Puerto Vallarta – although I can’t really offer the beaches fringed with palm trees and nightclubs with blaring music.]]> Puerto Vallarta is a resort town where you can find all the big chain hotels lining beaches along the Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags). I must admit I was a little surprised to pass a huge Wal-mart on way to the ship from the airport. The large cruise ship and high rise hotels under construction also didn’t match my image of a quaint Mexican fishing village. I need to talk with my travel agent. Next time, send me where development doesn’t imply hijacked coastline – throw in ecologically sustainable and the commission is yours. Ahh! The amount of work that needs soon forces me out from my tropical vacation daydream.

It’s been busy time here in Puerto Vallarta – Crew changes, open boats, and even a rock concert thrown into the mix. Organised by Greenpeace to launch the upcoming whales campaign, the concert was held downtown in an open ampitheatre built into the beachside promenade. A mixture of local activists, live bands and a large screen displaying Greenpeace video footage made for a fun, inspiring night.

It appears the Esperanza and the tourists aren’t the only ones migrating south – between November and April Humpback whales having filled their bellies in Alaskan waters come here for courtship and consequentially bear calves. Migrating back up to Alaska around March. Unlike some of the tourists that display similar behaviour, I always find whales interesting and definitely worth conserving (oops did I really say that).

Judging by the large turnout at our open boats and rock concert held by Greenpeace Mexico last night, Mexicans also want to be ocean defenders – now that gives me ‘Esperanza’.

Sanctuary under siege

by Karli, disembarking the Esperanza

It has been three weeks onboard the Esperanza in the Gulf of California, and as I pack up my cabin and do my laundry, it is sad to leave the ship.

At the end of our time in Mexico, we are in Puerto Vallarta and it feels right. It is a symbolic place to close this chapter of Defending Our Oceans and open the next - a return to the Southern Ocean to confront the whale hunters.

]]> It was here in Puerto Vallarta that the International Whaling Commission met in 1994 and agreed to establish the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.

However, 12 years on, the whales are still not safe, even in the sanctuary. The IWC (International Whaling Commission) is now seriously under threat of going back to being a pro whaling organisation.

This year’s meeting showed a stark reality: pro-whaling countries have been active in recruiting and buying new countries to vote with them at the IWC, and countries that support whale conservation have not done enough to counter that. The proposal to abolish the sanctuary was only narrowly stopped; 28 voted to abolish it while 33 voted to keep it.

In just over a decade, a single vote against the whale sanctuary has grown to 28 votes. But the people of those countries voting against the whales don’t necessarily support whaling. Whether it be a country whose vote has simply been sold – probably without the public even knowing – or Japan, where the majority of people do not support whaling on the high seas, public pressure can still make those governments accountable.

I can’t think of a last paragraph so I’ll just say bye for now, and go and check on my laundry.

Hello - swoosh - goodbye

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

Handing over to Helena

Friends would argue that my sense of time has always been off, but I swear, time just “swooshed” by . It feels like I came onboard yesterday, but it has been almost a month of sailing in the Gulf of California. Anther leg of the Ocean defenders expedition has reached its end, and the Esperanza will soon leave Mexico. Crewmembers get off the ship, and others join.]]> I’ve seen pelicans, dolphins, whales, funny fish and sea lions: it really was like sailing through an aquarium. The internet is a fantastic invention: I will be able to keep an eye on things from my freezing home across the planet.

I always tend to get a bit “mushy” when leaving the ship and all the good people on it, so I made a list of all the things I will not miss to make farewell easier:

- Tank 7
- Long life milk

Er... that was all that came to my mind. You can’t even call it a list. So that didn’t work. Tomorrow I will pack my bags, clean the cabin, pay my bills and say goodbye to my shipmates.

The time has come for me to hand over blogging to my dear friend Helena.

See you!

What now in the World's Aquarium?

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

We have started the process of suing the Los Cabos project. Jorge Buch, director of the project, has publicly announced that their constructions are perfectly legal, that they have all the permits required and that they even have the support of green NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations). The one NGO mentioned by name is Pronatura, where Sanchez Navarro, the owner of Questro Group also happens to be a board member. Funny that.

This morning there was a scent of land was in the air - trees! Haven't seen anything but sea and cacti during the last few weeks.

]]> We are now anchored in Puerto Vallarta, almost on the beach. During the weekend we will hold the ship open to visitors. Soon after that the Esperanza will leave Mexico, and I will stay on land.

This tour is just the beginning of a lasting campaign on coastal development. Our Mexican office will continue to keep a close eye on the more than 20 tourist development projects in Gulf of California.

We are happy that the Espíritu Santo was made a marine reserve, but we will continue to push for the establishment of more marine reserves in order to protect the unique marine life of the World's Aquarium.

Heading east

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

We are sailing eastwards across the Gulf of California. Tomorrow we arrive at Puerto Vallarta. I've put together a little slideshow, with some of the pictures not posted previously.

Action against destructive development in Los Cabos

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

We got up ridiculously early, and when I half asleep jumped in the boat it was still dark, with a bright full moon over the mountains of Baja Peninsula. I could see it through the tiny openings in the upper part of my face, situated under the puffy pads we usually refer to as "eyelids".]]> On our way to shore we passed the wetland of San Jose del Cabo, where an enormous flock of birds took off. This wetland will soon be history if the Los Cabos Project is not stopped. One little wetland - perhaps that doesn't sound so important. Where I come from for example water shortage is never an issue. But there is a reason why there is a local NGO here called the "Angels of the Wetland" - Los Ángeles del Estero. This wetland is the most important fresh water source of the region.

Activists in chains
© Greenpeace/Alex Hofford

When we arrived to shore the sun was up, and activists started to chain themselves to the machines at the Los Cabos Project construction site, with banners saying "Destruction at all cost". A crowd soon gathered: workers, representatives from the developers (the powerful Questro Group), local people, media and other on-lookers. A little while later about fifteen security guards arrived in a hurry, and said they had alerted the police.

Los Cabos is not what you would call a "pristine area", especially compared to what we've seen the last week sailing down from San Felipe. There are houses and hotels on the beach already. But this is nothing compared to what it will become in the near future if this project is not halted. 2 golf courses, 3 large hotels, 1168 houses, three beach clubs, two theme parks and a marina for 500 boats will definitely change the pretty view, and what is worse, cause irreparable damage to the environment. I just can't get over the pure absurdity in building golf courses in an area where the population suffers fresh water restrictions! It is as bizarre as planting rainforest in the Arctic. Unfortunately there are similar tourist development plans for the whole of the Gulf of California.

After dropping off Alejandro, Miguel and the photographers we were on standby by the beach. Paul, still shivering from the chilly boat ride, was happy to find a jacket lying around. Matt tried to have a little nap under a banner, and I curled up on deck behind the wheel. Natasha was the only one who didn't seem tired at all, patiently waiting at the front of the Novi, the smaller boat. You want the behind the scenes truth about Greenpeace actions? Well this is it! Nah, just kidding. But waiting is often a part of it.

Meanwhile more people arrived at the construction site. Two ladies from Los Cabos came with pictures of what the wetland used to look like only a few years ago. The difference to what the wetland looks like today was striking, and I don't even want to think about what it will be like a few years from now. Eventually the police arrived on the scene. We overheard them telling a journalist that they didn't want to intervene since it was obvious that ours was a peaceful protest.

When leaving the site, we left something to remember us by: the machine are still locked up with chains, and we have handed over the keys to the mayor of Los Cabos.

But that is not all: a group of people from Los Cabos was inspired by the action, and now they continue the protest against the project. At 14.00 hrs today they will gather at what used to be a popular plaza, but is now part of the construction site.

Egret in the wetland
© Greenpeace/Alex Hofford

Together with "the Angels of the Wetland" we call upon the Mexican government to ensure that all coastal developments are sustainable, which the Los Cabos Project is very far from being. In fact it is not even legal:

- The constructors have discharged waste into the wetland.

- Vegetation has been cut illegally.

- The freshwater wetland has been polluted with saltwater.

- For some parts of the project no assessments of impacts on the environment have been made.

- For other parts of the project which have been granted environmental permits, the conditions have not been followed.

We have to sail away from the Baja Peninsula now, heading east, but that does in no way mean that we give up - our team in Mexico will continue to work on the issue. We plan to take legal action against the Questro Group for their illegal development.

See map of the Gulf of California and read more

Nina - Volunteer deckhand

From: Germany

My name is Nina and I live in the beautiful capital of Bavaria, Munich, which is in the south of Germany. I am 25 years old and study politics, drama and German literature. I joined the crew in La Paz. For the last three months previous to that I was a trainee at Greenpeace in Germany. It is my first time on the Esperanza and it should not be the last. Now I look forward to staying on the ship for a while. My favourite place onboard the Esperanza: anywhere outside!

I work for Greenpeace, because I believe in a better world. I grew up with organic food and spend the recent years in the countryside in a small town with only a hundred people called Diemendorf. Since then, I guess, I started to love nature and the environment around me. This is how I spend my last free time before I have to go back to Germany to finish my studies. But nobody knows what comes after!

Fuelling the crew

by Nina, onboard the Esperanza

Nina baking.

Today I got a different job to do as usual: I got to work with our cook Jim. It was not the first time I worked in the galley. Galley means kitchen onboard the Esperanza. Since Yohena, the cook assistant, went ashore, he needed some help. We decided together that I would be the right person for that. Since Paul and I cooked for the whole crew on Sunday only one week ago, I felt nearly at home in the galley.

]]> In the middle of the galley there is a cooker, with four hot plates on it, and on both sides workspace for working. You can go around the cooker, which is quite convenient. I always loved to be in the kitchen of my mother although hers was very small compared to the galley. It always smelled good when she cooked - the thing I liked the most was when she was making cookies for Christmas. Everywhere was that smell of chocolate, honey, yeast or melted butter. Maybe that is the reason why food - especially organic food - played such an important role in my life.

Cooking on a ship means that you need long-life groceries and most of it comes from the freezer. I guess fresh food is the only thing I have been missing during the two weeks I have been onboard - and there will be more time when I am going to miss it.

Time went by so quick in the galley that I didn't remember to take a look outside. In the evening I was not sure whether the Esperanza had was still at anchor or if we were sailing again. The reason is: the portholes in the galley are barred with bottles of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar... So it is impossible to have a view of the outside. Even if I love to cook and to eat, I always feel sad about spending time indoors and not outside in the fresh air - especially when I live on a ship. But this time I discovered something special: I found a book for baking sweets like pies, tarts, muffins and cookies. I hope I can motivate some people to do some of these for Christmas. Christmas without sweets, I really cannot mention it!

Obviously it seems a little bit curious to think about such things, when the temperature outside amount to about 25ºc and we are here to protect the marine environment. In this area tourist development destroys the coastline and endangers species living here and they will go on building marinas. But small things are also part of life.

Furthermore you cannot fight when you are hungry, power and energy depends on that. So I prepared some cakes with apples and cinnamon for the next day.

[Nina's cakes were D E L I C I O U S and the whole crew turned into cookie monsters / Iréne]

Windy Sunday

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

This morning I was woken up by a howling wind - I half expected to see a pack of wolves dash through a snowstorm on the tundra. Luckily we didn’t drift quite that far during the night; Isla del Carmen was still there, and lots of white foam on the waves.

It took a while to get the anchor up because of the strong winds. The ship moves back and forth, and when the anchor lets go of the sea bottom she starts to drift a little. This time the wind moved her further away from the island, which is better than moving against the shore of course. It is important to keep an eye on the position of the anchor chain, and there is a lot of mysterious hand signaling going on between the crew by the anchor winch and the bridge.

]]> When Thijs, hanging over the side of the ship, finally puts his arms together and makes it look as if he was rocking a baby, it means that ship is clear - the anchor is out of the water and there is nothing entangled in it.

Alejandro cooking.
Photo: Isabel Leal

Sunday is as usual the day off for most of the crew. Today Alejandro and Ruth decided to cook dinner, and give our cook Jim a day off too. They seemed to have fun there in the galley, and managed to whip up a delicious dessert.

We are now sailing away from Isla del Carmen, heading south. I hope that if I ever return (with diving skills!) I will not find this area destroyed by destructive coastal development. It would be a pity to demolish the marine wildlife in order to feed a few foreign investors with dollars. There are other and more ecologically sustainable ways to develop tourism and create jobs and income for the local communities.

As I write this chairs are keeling over, and something just came off the wall on the bridge. Of course it's nothing like the roaring 40s, but it is rough enough to make things move. I shot the little movie below to give you an idea.

Isla del Carmen

by Irene, onboard the Esperanza

Download: Puffer fish wallpaper >>

Today we arrived at Isla del Carmen, which is part of the Bahía de Loreto National Park. Around 40% of all the marine species living in the whole of the Gulf of California can be found here. Gavin, Alex and Alejandro jumped in the water, and once again I wished that I was a diver. The water temperature was around 23 degrees and the visibility better than expected. There are not a lot of divers coming here - most of them stay further south.]]> Alex managed to capture some of the islands' marine life. I've fallen in love with the puffer fish, so I made a wallpaper out of it if you want to embellish your desktop.

Not far from here, on the mainland, big coastal projects are under development: "Golden Beach" and "Loreto Bay". They both include the construction of hotels, golf courses, villas, marinas, malls, spas, restaurants and an airport… and they are both very far from being developed in an environmentally sustainable way. No proper assessment of the impacts on the surrounding environment has been made. Discharges, spills, dredging and pollution from the marinas will most certainty have an impact on the marine life of the area.

But right now I don’t want to think about that, I just enjoy looking at my puffer fish. And dream about being a diver. And hope that whatever it is that smells so delicious on the barbecue on poop deck will soon be ready to eat. And then there might be dancing - after all it is Saturday night.