Sea Shepherd's Operation Milagro: a miracle for the vaquitas.

I'm sorry I haven't been writing for a while but I'm very busy with my university exams. I promise that from now on I'm trying to write posts more often...starting with this one, a Sea Shepherd's operation that I care very much. Enjoy :) 

The vaquita porpoise is considered by many to be the rarest species of marine mammal in the world – it is critically endangered, at imminent risk of extinction. It is estimated that as few as 97 vaquitas remain, living only in the warm waters of the northernmost tip of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortéz), near Baja California, Mexico. The smallest of all seven porpoise species, it is also the smallest cetacean in the world. The vaquita, which means “little cow” in Spanish, is also known as the “smiley panda of the sea” due to its signature dark marks around its eyes and mouth.

Vaquitas have a comparatively short lifespan of approximately 20 years, and have never been held in captivity. With a slower rate of reproduction than that of other porpoises – giving birth to only one calf every two years – these petite porpoises are being wiped out far quicker than they can reproduce.

The vaquita population drastically plummets by 18.5 percent every year and it is estimated that it could be extinct by 2018 if they continue to fall victim to by-catch. 

Sea Shepherd with the R/V Martin Sheen is collecting data in an effort to collaborate with scientific and conservation efforts to contribute to the survival of the remaining vaquitas. 

Watch the captain of the R/V Martin Sheen, Oona Layolle, talking about the operation and the incredible and wonderful sighting of a vaquita! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Gcqv4TQwY 

VIP...for the oceans!

The oceans are more and more endangered and this problem is capturing the attention of several famous people and here are some of them: 

CHRISTIAN BALE 

BRIGITTE BARDOT 

DALAI LAMA 

SAM SIMON 

LENA HEADEY 

Some actors from the HBO series "Game of Thrones" (IAIN GLEN, JASON MOMOA, NATALIA TENA, MILTOS YEROLEMOU and FINN JONES) 

...and lots of others, like Beau Bridges, Holly Marie Combs, Isabel Lucas, Shannen Doherty, Sean Penn, Sean Connery, Martin Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ross McCall. 

Join them and all the others who stand for the oceans with Sea Shepherd and other organizations. 

"If the oceans die, we die." Captain Paul Watson 

Sharkwater: a shark lover, a battle.

Rob Stewart has been a shark lover since the very first years of his life. In 2007, he made a documentary film to report the dangerous situation in which the sharks are. 
In the film he interviews some people who think it's right to hunt sharks and kill them because they are "man-eaters", a danger to people. Well, this is the result of ignorance surrounding these incredible creatures, which rarely attack men and never do it to eat them, but simply because it can happen that they confuse them with seals or because they are annoyed by electronic equipment. Sharks tend to be afraid of human beings, even our heartbeat can scare them. 
In collaboration with Sea Shepherd, he went to the places that have the largest presence of sharks in the world to show the corruption and exploitation surrounding even the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. 
Sharks have gone from predator to prey because of the demand of their meat and especially of their fins, with which a prized soup is made (even if shark fins have no taste). 
I could see that Sharkwater is a beautiful, well made documentary film and I strongly advise you to watch it! 

"An eye-opening film...visually stunning...this movie will change the way you see our oceans."
- Bonnie Laufer, Tribute Magazine 

Sea Shepherd's Vortex project and Raw for the Oceans.

In 2014 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has launched a new project, called Vortex, in collaboration with Pharrell Williams and its eco-material company Bionic Yarn and with the Dutch denim brand G-Star Raw. 
This project consists of cleaning the Oceans of plastic debris and transform it into fashion. 

The great difference between this project and the ones carried out by other eco-friendly companies is that it will close the loop of waste by recycling the products at the end of their life cycle and manufacture new ones from them. 

In August the first material result of this project came out: "Raw for the Oceans". It is a G-Star Raw collection of garments made with Bionic Yarn and curated by Pharrell Williams. 

"I love the ocean. It's always been an inspiration to me. How it works, its depth, what it emotes, its relations to the moon, its cycles and the inhabitants of the ocean. You can never know enough. There is so much down there and in there; it's a huge inspiration to me."

-Pharrell Williams 

"Plastic is choking our Oceans and precious marine wildlife at an unprecedented rate. Straws, single-use bags, six-pack rings, drink lids and more are ensnaring marine animals or blocking their digestive systems, killing these magnificent creatures. It's time humanity takes responsibility for our actions and cleans up the mess we've made. We hope this is the first of many meaningful collaborations to come."

-Captain Paul Watson 

Happy life, happy human beings, happy oceans. 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: a war for the oceans.

A little bit of history... 
In 1977, Captain Paul Watson founded the Earth Force Society, after separating from Greenpeace. 
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was formally incorporated in the United States in 1981. 
Both organizations, at the beginning, had a mandate to protect marine mammals and their main goal was shutting down illegal whaling and sealing operations. Later, Sea Shepherd expanded its mission to all marine wildlife. 
In 1978, with the help of Cleveland Amory of the Fund for Animals, SSCS bought its first ship, which was named Sea Shepherd. Its first mission was to interfere with the annual killing of baby harp seals in Eastern Canada. During that year, Sea Shepherd also hunted down and rammed the pirate whaler "Sierra" ending its infamous career. 
Since then, Sea Shepherd has embarked on over 200 voyages covering many of the world's oceans and defending and saving defenseless marine life all along the way. 

The mission of SSCS 
The aim of Sea Shepherd is to stop the destruction of the natural habitat and the massacre of the wild species in the world's oceans. 
They use direct actions to investigate, document and act to show the world what happens in the oceans. 
Sea Shepherd's campaigns are guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature. 
They collaborate with all the international agencies for the law enforcement . 
Sea Shepherd adheres to the principles of non-violence during all of its operations and adopted a rule against violence in the protection of the oceans. 
They work to obtain cooperation agreements amongst nations to protect the species and the habitats on the basis of the SSCS Mandate. 

Campaigns
During over 30 years of activity, SSCS carried on many campaigns: 
- dolphins (Grindstop and Taiji) 
- Galapagos 
- Whales (Leviathan, Migaloo, Musashi, Waltzing Matilda, No Compromise, Ferociuos Isles, Divine Wind) 
- Sharks 
- Seals 
- Red tuna 

http://www.seashepherd.org/

The slaughter of the giants of the ocean.

Whaling had a great development during the XVI century in the Atlantic ocean and from the XIX century in the Pacific ocean. The Basques were the first commercial whalers, while the most numerous were the Americans. 
The whale is caught with an harpoon, thrown from the whaling ship. In the XIX century the main whale product was the blubber, but the whole animal was used. In modern times, the main product is it meat. 
At the end of the XIX century whaling underwent a profound crisis because of the birth of the oil industry and because of the American civil war. 
Today, whaling is forbidden in most of the world, but in many countries whale hunters keep hunting these cetaceans. 

In 1946 the IWC (International Whaling Commission) was created to promote a coordinated development of the whaling industry and regulate it. At the beginning it encouraged the hunt and so, during the first 30 years of the IWC, 2 million whales were killed. In more recent times, it has started promoting the protection for the cetaceans, even though 39 member countries are still conducive to hunting. 
In 1986 came into force the ban of whaling, but since then Japan, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Korea and local whale hunters from other countries went on with their activity, killing 21.760 whales. 
In 1994, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was created. Notwithstanding this, Japan keeps killing minke whales there. 

Norway and Japan are brazenly defying world opinion by going on with the hunt and even increasing it. 
Japan is taking advantage of a loophole of the IWC, which allows the hunt in any number of specimens for the purpose of scientific research. So, Japan named its activity "scientific research". Obviously, no new knowledge has been gained. 
Blue whale and fin whale are considered "endangered species" by WWF. 

Whaling must be stopped. There is no justification for such a barbarity. 
You can help things change by spreading the word and helping the organizations that deal with the protection of these wonderful creatures, like Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, WWF and IWPO. 
Please, don't let it remain an unheeded cry. 

What do you think about it? Send me an email to thenorternlightsdiary@gmail.com. 

SHARK-EATERS: the killers are us.

In spite of everything you can think about sharks and their reputation as ruthless killers, it's not man to be at risk of extinction because of them, it's not man to be a prey: sharks are. 

Sharks are threatened because of four main reasons:

- In Asia there is an increasing demand for shark fins, which are served in an expensive soup; the shark is caught and its fin is cut, then the animal is thrown back into the water: that's a death sentence.

- It often happens that sharks remain trapped in fishing nets set for other fish: this is called bycatch. 

- Some species of sharks are seriously endangered because of the popularity of their meat in many parts of the world. 

- The increasing development, pollution and over-fishing are causing a great loss of marine habitats which are very important to shark populations. 

Furthermore, sharks can't breed as fast as other fish, so it's even easier the reduction of their numbers because of overfishing. 

So, what can we do? 

First of all, buy only sustainable fish and seafood (look for MSC certification). 
Second, let people know! Spread the word, make sure that this doesn't remain in silence. 
Third, support the organizations and institutes which are at the forefront to defend the sharks, like WWF, Seashepherd, Oceana, Sharks.org and others. 

If you want to, send me your opinions about this to thenorthernlightsdiary@gmail.com.