Hi, my name is Penny and I'm from England. I am the bosun (chief deckhand) aboard the Rainbow Warrior.
How did I get involved? After completing my Masters degree in marine environmental science, I came to Greenpeace by happy accident. My friends would say it was fate. I have been privileged to sail with Greenpeace regularly for many years and have been part of numerous campaigns, some won, some lost and some, like this one, continue on.
Why am I here? Many reasons. As a seafarer this campaign, "Defending our Oceans" is very close to my heart.
The oceans for centuries have sustained us, provided food, jobs, a means of transport and trade. We have found sustenance, both physically and spiritually, on their beaches and reefs. Our relationship with the oceans is ancient. Many of our cultures have deities and folklore associated with the oceans, moon and tides.
In recent history the oceans have given us their wealth of gas and oil. We have decimated their populations of sea mammals, sea birds and fish and used them as dumping grounds for nuclear waste, weapons, sewage and toxic chemical effluent. The consequences of climate change add to stresses on an ecosystem already in crisis.
Time is running out. Evidence shows that the oceans cannot sustain this level of abuse and remain whole. They are not the inexhaustible supply that those who profit from them would have us believe. They are living, breathing, incredibly complex systems which, miraculously, if left alone and not abused, have the ability to recover.
We do not want to stop all use and harvesting from the oceans, but if we take short-term money out of the equation, if we look to the common good rather than the individual profit, if we focus on our future instead of now, a global network of marine reserves makes undeniable sense. From the smallest of plankton, to those most magnificent leviathans, the great whales, everything on this Earth is a perfect piece of the whole. I am here, as always, because I cannot bear to see us lose another perfect piece.
Fair winds and calm seas.
-- Penny
Penny has been working on Greenpeace ships for longer than we can remember. She is currently on the Rainbow Warrior in Taiwan on the Defending Our Oceans Tour of East Asia.
Penny on board the Rainbow Warrior in 2008
Images: (top) © Greenpeace/ Paul Hilton, (bottom), © Greenpeace/ Gavin Parsons