Bluefin tunas are extreme athletes with fins. Warm-blooded fishes capable of growing to 1,500 pounds they sprint at highway speeds through seawater 800 times denser than air, coring through oceans on multi-year, multi-thousand-mile migrations between spawning and feeding areas. At least three bluefin species inhabit the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, the Pacific, and the South […]
fish
Glimpse of Arctic seafloor reveals trawler’s damage
I’m in the Arctic in the waters of Svalbard, north of Norway, at 78º North Latitude during the time of year when the sun never sets. For a few days I’m a guest aboard Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise. We’re concerned about damage to the seafloor by a recent influx of fishing trawlers into the high […]
What gives Greenpeace the right?
I’m here in the high arctic waters off Svalbard (78º N; way up there!) as a guest for a few days aboard Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise. I wonder if we’re doing the right thing. We’re here because warming waters have brought cod and other valued fish northward, and upon them are huge fishing boats capable […]
High in the Arctic up-close with a mega-fishing trawler
I’m in the high Arctic in the waters of Svalbard, north of Norway, at 78º North Latitude in early July. For a few days I’m a guest aboard Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise. Bundled in clothes that I hope will keep me dry and maybe even warm, I’m at a doorway that opens straight to the […]
Seven ways fishing trawlers aren’t great for the seabed
I’m writing this in the high Arctic at 78º North Latitude in early July, aboard Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise where I’m a guest for a few days, with 24-hour daylight and gleaming glaciers in the valleys of snow-capped coastal mountains. We’re here because shrinking sea ice and warming ocean water is moving fish farther north, and […]
A Pacific salmon hub is under threat
The Skeena River snakes out of fir-lined fjords on the misty northern coast of British Columbia, and washes over a thousand-acre sandbar. Flora Bank is a biological bottleneck over which millions of finger-length young salmon enter the sea each spring. Scientist Allen Gottesfeld calls Flora Bank the “Grand Central Station” for the watershed. All streams in the […]