Greenpeace activists are arrested by police on top of the derrick of an Arctic-bound Shell- contracted drillship in Port Taranaki, New Zealand. The arrest ends their occupation of the Noble Discoverer which lasted 77 hours. The Shell contracted drillship is heading to the Arctic to start drilling for oil. Shell is positioning itself to be at the head of an oil-rush into the Arctic, in expectation that climate change will continue to drive up the average Arctic summer ice melt, and so make drilling in the region easier. Oil spills are virtually impossible to clean up in Arctic conditions.02/27/2012

© Nigel Marple / Greenpeace