The original quote is from Kenneth Grahame's Wind In the Willows: "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
We spent an extended period of time in the South Atlantic and, apart from
periods of frustration with lack of progress, we were dismayed to see just
how much rubbish there was floating around us.
Old fishing pots, plastic crates, bottles and netting were everywhere and we
were saddened to see this beautiful environment polluted to such an extent.
Our plea from the sea is that you find a bin and recycle!
Another reason to be concerned at the level of rubbish is that this area is a
true haven for wildlife and we can only imagine the devastating impact the
debris has on them. We passed close to the volcanic Tristan and Gough
islands, whose existence would be news to many people.
Roz Savage has already rowed the Atlantic and is now most of the way across the Pacific. Why is she doing it? To create awareness about the pollution of our oceans, one painful oar stroke at a time. You can read more here.
I went quiet for a while on Song For Friday as I lost inspiration. This one got my attention.
If you haven't heard about it, I strongly suggest you check out tcktck and timeforclimatejustice.org, the campaign for climate justice lead by Kofi Annan. The campaign's aim is to get people like you and me to show our support for climate justice. Basically, the environmental damage created by us in the developed world is hurting people in the emerging world most. With the Copenhagen Summit on December 7th, the aim is to send a message to world leaders that to affect change.
As part of the campaign they created a video a la "Feed The World" remaking Midnight Oil's Beds Are Burning. If you like this and believe that this is important, spread the word! So far close to 3.5 million have signed up.
At a dinner a few weeks ago, I noticed an interesting pin on the lapel of one of the other dinner guests, Robert Moore. It looked like a seagull with a huge wingspan. It was of course an albatross. Robert told me that it was pin for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)'s campaign to save the Albatross. The Albatross, arguably the most symbolic of birds for any mariner, is in danger of extinction as a result of ingesting hooks set by deep sea fishing boats. Over 100,000 albatrosses are killed every year as a result of this.
The Save the Albatross Campaign is a global initiative to work with governments and fishing companies to take measures. I thought this except from their web site summed up the problem perfectly. Below you can also see a video that shows how the Albatrosses are caught on the hooks while diving for bait.
Picture the scene.
You're
in a restaurant. You're enjoying good company. You're really enjoying
your simple meal of succulent Pacific salmon - having first checked
that it is Marine Stewardship Council certified.
You take another bite. Swallow. Something's not right.
You've
a fish bone stuck in your throat. With a bit of back slapping you
dislodge it and continue your meal, your slight discomfort soon
forgotten.
Now imagine if that had been a barbed, 2-inch, steel hook caught in your throat. That wouldn't be something you'd forget.
Luckily, this isn't something you'll ever have to worry about. But for the world's albatrosses this is an ever-present danger.
Discarded
fish waste and bait offer an easy meal for an albatross, that a fishing
boat spotted out in the open ocean is a tough opportunity to pass by.
Unfortunately,
swooping to pick up that tasty piece of squid might be the worst
decision that an albatross makes, as it is often attached to a hook
that pulls the bird under the water. Drowning it.
This happens to an albatross around once every five minutes. Put another way, 100,000 albatrosses die like this every year.
Horrid and needless deaths
Dying
at a rate of around one every five minutes, the albatross family is
becoming threatened faster than any other family of birds. Eighteen of
the 22 species of albatross are globally threatened with extinction, an
increase from just seven in 1994.
Albatrosses are being killed in
such vast numbers that they can't breed fast enough to keep up, putting
them in real danger of extinction.
Without help, losses could become so great that recovery may never be possible for these majestic ocean wanderers.
The kids in the summer sailing camp at Raritan Yacht Club must have had the shock of a lifetime when a black fin appeared in the moored fleet close to the club. As it turned out it was a whale that had sadly repeatedly tried to beach itself. The shots below on the beach are 100 yards from my boat. From what I can gather the folks on the beach were successful in getting the whale back into the water but it then swam up the Raritan River and away from the sea. The whale fatally beached itself again later that day one last time :(
UPDATE: Whale spotted swimming near Perth Amboy beaches itself
PERTH AMBOY
— A small whale has washed ashore in the city after spending hours
Monday roaming the Raritan Bay and Raritan River, authorities and a
witness said. The 15- to 20-foot pilot whale turned up around 7 p.m.
Monday, beaching itself near Sadowsky Parkway and Catalpa Avenue and
drawing crowds of onlookers, said Kim Vasquez, a city resident at the
scene. She said firefighters were wetting the mammal as they waited for
marine rescuers to arrive. Initially reported to be a dolphin, the
whale was first spotted around 1:30 p.m. in the waters between Perth
Amboy and Staten Island, Perth Amboy Fire Chief David Volk said. Four
civilians from Staten Island saw it stranded on a sand bar off the
island's Wards Point section, and came over to push it back into the
water. That's when a crew on Perth Amboy's Marine 5 fire boat saw it swimming in the bay, Volk said.
It's hard to imagine a species that is so feared and yet is under so much threat of extinction. An old friend of mine Michael Skoletsky is a long-time diver. Over the last few years he has become increasingly concerned and passionate about the threat faced by sharks. To that end with five other fellow divers, he founded sharksavers.org.
Their mission is to educate people about impact we are having on sharks and why it's so important to save them. In their own words.
We focus on education and awareness
because most people still think sharks are out to kill them, or don't
know that sharks are being fished towards extinction, or are unaware of
the of disastrous impact that shark eradification has on the oceans and
food supply, or don't know that mercury in shark fin soup is hazardous.
It's a worthwhile cause. Please check them out. It's a good site too!
A dramatic and highly informative presentation by the awesome Sylvia Earle. She was a recent recipeint of the TED Prize for her dedication to marine preservation. The facts are frightening. Just one piece of data, 90% of the Big Fish are gone.
In her own words: "The next 10 years could be the most important in next 10,000". In essence, we have to act now or we are going to lose our seas.
Very interesting and troubling piece in today's NY Times on why how fish has become a core part of the raising of cattle and poultry, driving greater demand for fish, further depleting our oceans.
It raises an interesting solution, in using algae and other aquatic vegetation to replace fish in animal feed. This seems especially compelling as it could drive demand, thus economic value of aquatic vegetation. If managed properly, maybe this would actually be beneficial for our seas.
Recent Comments