Feature story - January 9, 2007
9 January 2007 - The sun wasn't shining, but there were smiles all round as about 60 people stood on Princes Wharf to welcome our ship, the Esperanza. The ship is in New Zealand for two weeks and will be open to the public during her visit.
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza arrives in Auckland Harbour.
It is the first time the Esperanza has visited New Zealand. She
will be preparing for her voyage to the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary to stop whaling.
During her global expedition the Esperanza has confronted pirate
fishers off the coast of West Africa, promoted marine reserves and
threats to the coastal marine systems in the Atlantic, the Red Sea
and the coastlines of India, and highlighted the overfishing of
tuna in both the Mediterranean and the Pacific.
Last whaling season the Greenpeace crew stopped many whales from
beingkilled in the Antarctic. This year they will be carrying out
activitiesdesigned by supporters who have posted their ideas on http://whales.greenpeace.org.
This year, the Japanese Fisheries Agencyplans to hunt 945 whales
- 935 minke whales and 10 endangered finwhales - and the Esperanza
will be there to stop them.
Open days for the public
Before they set sail, we areopening the ship for two weekends of
public open days.If you happen to be in the area, come on down and
meet some of the New Zealand staff and the crew, have a lookaround
Greenpeace's newest ship - at 72m long with a heli-deck and roomfor
33 crew, she's pretty impressive - and find out about where
theEsperanza is heading.
Where:
Princes Wharf, Auckland (behind the Maritime Museum)
Dates:
Weekends of the 13 & 14 and 20 & 21 January 2007
Time:
10am - 4pm
Entry is free. Your koha/donation is appreciated and will help
our voyage.
And if you can't be there in person, keep checking the Esperanza's
weblog for a behind-the-scenes look at life on board.
Join the "crew"!
Join our biggest crew ever - add your idea to whales.greenpeace.org!