ships

The crew of the Esperanza, still out patrolling the Pacific against the overfishing of tuna, just sent us this video update. They have been monitoring and confiscating fish aggregating devices (FADs) where ever they come across them. FADs are still being widely used by tuna fishing fleets throughout the Pacific Ocean - despite their use being illegal for most nations over the summer months.

There's some stunning photography in this final video from the Arctic Sunrise's arctic expedition. Ice sheets, icebergs, glaciers and (yes) polar bears all feature in a kind of greatest hits package from Greenland and beyond. View it on Youtube for a larger, more panoramic version.

It's only a couple of days since the Esperanza set out on the Defending Our Pacific Tour, but already the crew are deeply engaged in the fight to save Pacific tuna from decimation.

Tuna are the main target of industrial fishing fleets from Asia, USA and the EU. Between them they took over 2.5 million tonnes last year alone - a totally unsustainable amount. And the indiscriminate nature of their fishing methods means that thousands of sharks and turtles also die needlessly in their nets.

The Arctic Sunrise is in Greenland to survey melting glaciers and observe the effects of climate change. In this latest update from the tour, Indian journalist Gaurav Sawant decribes his experiences aboard and ponders the implications for the sub-continent. But first web editor Juliette sets the scene...

India seems (and is) quite far away from Greenland and the Arctic. Yet, with the world's second largest population and with major cities like Mumbai (parts of which lie just a few metres above sea level), the country cannot ignore what is happening. India is now a major player in international politics. If its population and leaders start making climate change the political priority, the world will listen.

Just in via our Climate Rescue weblog, here's a beautiful little filmic essay on the realities of climate change from Greenpeace China campaigner Xin Yu (otherwise known as "Fish"), made aboard the Arctic Sunrise during the current expedition to monitor a 100 km² ice island breaking off Greenland's Petermann glacier.

The Arctic Sunrise is still in Greenland where the crew (including leading climate scientists and other ice experts) have been monitoring the ongoing disintegration of the Petermann glacier.

Photographer Nick Cobbing is on board, and we've all been oohing and aahing over his stunning images as they come in to the office. They're all the more poignant as the portion of the glacier they depict may soon cease to exist. 

You can view a larger version of this slideshow, and follow updates from the Arctic Sunrise on the Climate Rescue blog.

Tonight there's a party being held on a Greenpeace ship to which everyone is invited. Go on board, look around, chat to the other guests. Just one small point - the ship isn't docked in the Amazon or Tokyo or Rotterdam, it's in popular virtual world phenomenon Second Life.

'The Dove', currently anchored off Commonwealth Island, is the creation of a group of Greenpeace supporters in Second Life and one in particular - who goes by the name of Anise Dollopofmayo in-world - has been doing the virtual equivalent of beating the panels and raising the masts. Along with the information hut which has been there for some time, the ship is going to act as a venue for events (such as tonight's party) and a recruitment point for new members.

The shindig runs from 7.30 to 9.30pm GMT (or 11.30am to 1.30pm Second Life time) and click this link to be teleported to the embarkation point. If you haven't used Second Life before (which you can download here), it's only fair to warn you that you'll need to go through an induction process when you first log in which can take some time.

It's certainly an experience, although my flying skills are not all they could be and I have a tendency to crash in spectacular fashion. Oh, the humiliation.

One of the great things about working for an international organisation is that my inbox is constantly filling with emails from around the globe detailing what other Greenpeace offices are working on. A thread I've been following particularly closely is the stream of messages coming from the Arctic Sunrise which is currently back in Brazil on a two-and-a-half month tour of the country.

The purpose of the tour - which goes under the name of 'Save The Planet Now... Or Now!' - is to highlight the important role Brazil (as the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet) can play in fighting it in the lead-up to the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen this December.