For the last three years, the Department of Interior has been dragging its feet when it comes to protecting the polar bear. Today, it finally listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This might seem like a victory but there are enough holes in this listing to leave the polar bear unprotected against its biggest threat, global warming.
We caught an illegal tuna purse seiner (Queen Evelyn 168) in the Pacific Commons yesterday. This Philippines-flagged vessel was close to the transfer of tuna between her sister vessel and a refrigerated mothership. It was likely that the transfer of fish at sea, involving this illegal vessel, was about to occur. But upon our arrival the vessels immediately separated and fled the scene.
The Esperanza freed tuna, sharks, marlin and an endangered sea turtle from a Taiwanese longliner on Saturday. The vessel was fishing in the Pacific Commons, the international waters we want to see protected as a marine reserve.
Greenpeace International has released a new report, entitled “False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate,” which proves once and for all that “clean coal” is nothing more than a slogan aimed at greenwashing the image of an irremediably dirty energy source.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has ordered the Bush Administration to make a final decision about listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a ruling that could finally end the administration’s deliberate stalling of the listing process while it sells off oil prospecting rights in the Chukchi Sea.
It may look slimy and slightly alien, but this newly discovered species of sponge is an ambassador for undiscovered critters living in the nooks and crannies of our magnificent planet. Damaging human activities, like bottom trawling in the oceans, are decimating ecosystems and wiping out creatures before we even know they exist.
It is now the 22nd anniversary of Chernobyl explosion, the largest civil nuclear disaster ever. Serious contamination spread over 150,000 square kilometers in Byelorussia, Ukraine and Russia. Radioactive clouds deposited radiation thousands of kilometers away. Hundreds of thousands people had to be evacuated, and millions more were left to live in areas that were dangerous to their health and lives.
"Ladies and Gentlemen your attention please, the Dongwon, Mitsubishi, Moon Marine, Azzopardi and Ricardo Fuentes stalls are now closed." That was one message being relayed over the public address sound system at the Brussels Seafood Expo, as Greenpeace closed down the stands of five tuna suppliers - including the world's largest, Mitsibushi.
As the sun rose over the horizon in the Pacific, the Esperanza’s helicopter, Tweety spotted a lone fishing boat. The Taiwanese longliner was in the international waters just north of the Solomon Islands. Two Greenpeace inflatables were quickly launched with activists and a Chinese interpreter onboard to meet the Nian Sheng 3. After a conversation with our translator, the Captain of the vessel allowed our activists and cameramen to board the ship and inspect the contents of the hold.
Greenpeace activists across Europe have been busy, many of whom have been dressing up as orangutans to draw attention to Unilever's "monkey business". We're launching the next stage in our campaign to protect the rainforests of Indonesia from the expansion of the palm oil industry.
