Island of Patmos

Concha Martínez

Yesterday we anchored off the Greek island of Patmos. It is a small island, but from the ship it looks like your typical postcard of a Greek holiday to us. There are several craft of different sizes anchored like us.

Since Thursday, we have been getting strong winds again. At times, they have reached force 8, which on land means that the wind blows from 60 to 70 kilometers per hour, and in sea terms, it is called "gale (strong wind)". Fortunately the gale has not been constant enough to cause "big waves" as usually occurs. In any event, this wind has prevented any attempt of icthyoplankton sampling as well as finding fishing boats fishing because when the seas are so rough, they don't usually come out.

Yesterday the divers made two dives, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon at two points on this island.

They tell us that they could not have been more different. This is because the places they have been were very close together. However, the first dive gave them the chance to see vast meadows of sea phanerogams, and they especially saw a large number of rabbitfish (Siganidae). Carlos, our photographer tells me that it is a Red Sea fish and that it entered the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.

However, on the second dive, they found the area covered with a “plague” of mucilagous bentonic seaweed. The appearance is that the entire sea bottom, sea grass, sponges included, appears covered with an unsightly, filamentous and viscous mass.

Nevertheless, they were also able to see this cute family of dotted sea slugs (Discodoris atromaculata).

On all occasions, the initial result was a large quantity of ctenophores (a word I learned yesterday) and that I would commonly describe as some marine "animals" with a jelly-like and transparent appearance. The look a lot like jellyfish, but fortunately they do not sting.

Each of the samples collected brought up a sizeable amount in the net. We saved a few samples to examine them under the microscope and the "gelatinous soup" was returned to the sea again, as what we were searching for were larvae of other species that give us information of whether the areas where samples are taken are egg laying areas, and in that case, for what species.

In Greek waters

Concha Martínez

As I had already told Keith, on July 30, the Marviva Med was arriving in the port of Athens and the little changes in the Oceana's crew that were planned for that port were made. In Athens, we said goodbye to Alberto Iglesias, one of the safety divers, as well as Keith Ellenbogen, the onboard underwater photographer since the campaign began on the Marviva Med in late May.

Another underwater photographer joined us in that port, Carlos Minguell, who was coming back from a short break, Thierry Lannoy, the diving coordinator, who also performs the functions of safety diver, and me, Concha Martínez, Oceana's Director of Development in Europe. I am joining the crew as a communications person for a few days and to learn how to help out with whatever arises.

A Place to Return Too…

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Riding along the waves of the Marviva Med research boat at 10 nautical miles per hour, looking seaward towards Athens, Greece — time momentarily paused as the air grew still and the sea turned clear as glass. Within the stillness arrived a pod of dolphins that surfed the waves along the boat.

Looking down from the bow, during this surreal moment — that felt like an eternity — we danced in a mental dialogue of non-verbal communication and cerebral understanding. As the flatness of the sea vanished so did the dolphins — but I am sure they will share stories like I am with you.

Reflections — Preparing to Depart

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.”

~ Marshall McLuhan, writer, philosopher and communicator

As I reflect over the past sixty days at sea, on a campaign to protect the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna — our expedition has taken us to new frontiers and depths that have not often been seen. Under the direction of Xavier Pastor, Expedition Leader, we explored the Mediterranean Sea from Spain to Malta to north coast of Africa (Algeria and Libya) as well through the islands of Italy. Throughout the expedition our team has photographed/videographed some of the marine life, healthy and unhealthy, as well as illegal fishing practices. Additionally, we have been researching and sampling populations of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna larvae for further analysis.

Many of my most memorable images I photographed were in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea — as our team dove along, inside and under a cage filled with Atlantic Bluefin Tuna accelerating past our bodies to document one of the worlds most spectacular marine animals from collapse due to over fishing techniques.

Throughout the past two months — we achieved giant strides on a path that is unfortunately miles long — with many challenging obstacles ahead. While the future of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna remains uncertain, our campaign has been successful in reaching the mass media, persuading governments to implement legislation that will help stop over fishing and illegal fishing practices of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and other pelagic species such as swordfish — although much more needs to be done.

Traditional “Felucca” Fishing Boats of Sicily

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Off the coast of Sicily are fleets of traditional “Harpoon Fishing Boats” with cables connected to ladders connected to lookout stations — 100ft/33m above sea level — that tower over the city and mountain peeks. Defying gravity 3ft/1m above sea level with a feeling of ‘walking on water’ is a horizontal ladder extending 150ft/50m from the bow of the boat to the harpooner station.

Exclusively targeting swordfish — this selective fishing practice is a highly desirable and environmentally sound method of fishing — as by-catch (catching unwanted fish) is virtually non-existent using this method. Quickly compare and contrast this to driftnet fishing techniques that catch and kill everything and anything such as dolphins, sea turtles, etc — with 25% by-catch tossed back into the ocean as unwanted and dead.

Expedition leader Xavier Pastor encouraged our team to connect with these traditional fishermen to document their fishing practices. The next morning our three-person expedition team, departed the Marviva Med at 5am and drove north to the beautiful small town of Ganzirri, Sicily. Upon arrival, the fishermen and their two dogs welcomed us onboard their traditional ‘Felucca’ fishing boat.

Fishing near the coast within a predefined zone — the Italian captain and spotters perched sky high — located the swordfish on the surface. Once a swordfish is spotted the boat is quickly positioned for the harpooner to throw (by hand) a spear into the water and catch the fish. The harpooner is strategically extended as far forward as the cables will support from the bow of the boat so the sound of the engine does not scare the fish away.

The Once Glorious Swordfish

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”— Henry David Thoreau

The swordfish,the only member of the family Xiphiidae, are one of the most beautiful marine animals living in our oceans — with big blue eyes, a long bill and brilliant sail — its spectacular. It’s a fish so great it inspired authors such as Hemmingway and artists all over the world.

If given an opportunity the swordfish can reach a grand size of 15ft/5m weighing 1,400lbs/650kg.

Unfortunately, the swordfish that we photographed today, being transferred from the longline fishing boat to the truck were so small that they had to pile six fish on the scale to even record the total weight of 140lbs/70kg. Cradled within the arms of a fisherman, I would estimate that some of these baby swordfish only weigh only 20lbs/9kg — just a tiny fraction of their potential size.

The swordfish population, like the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, is endanger of collapsing. Environmental organizations are asking the general public to reduce their consumption of swordfish and Atlantic Bluefin Tuna — for a sustainable future. But also due to the high levels of pollutants in their meat.

Fishing Nets for purseiners and bottom trammel.

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

With mooring lines securely fastened to the bollard, the Oceana Marviva Med was docked in the Sicilian Harbor of Porto Di Messina, Banchina G. Marconi. From the ‘porto’ our expedition team of Maria Jose Cornax, Gorka Leclercq, and Keith Ellenbogen departed in a rental car, driving north, along the coast of Sicily to photograph fishing boats armed with driftnets in Catania, Santa Maria la Scala, Stazzo, Riposto, and Giardini – Naxos.

In all these ports we observed piles and piles of fishing nets stacked adjacent to the fishing boats — that at times were so high they blocked the view of the boats. Some of the nets were neatly stacked; others were carelessly tossed on the ground or meticulously covered by tarps. These nets are made from non-organic nylon multifilament. However, there are organic options that use silk or wool. The nets we observed were used by both purseiners, bottom trammel netters, and ferratare for small pelagic fish. We did not see any net used for swordfish or tuna.

Tuna Cages Bay of Milazzo, Sicily, Italy

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

With the Oceana Marviva Med stationed off the coast of Sicily we launched the Grey Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to photograph tuna farms along the Bay of Milazzo.

On this expedition, Xavier Pastor, Expedition Leader and Carlos Perez, Operations / Logistics Manager informed the underwater photography/videograhy team that if the opportunity presents itself we will try to jump in the water and photograph the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the cages.

As we slowly approached the red buoys that covered the surface of the ocean and blocked the city in the distant horizon — we noted numerous small cages. With no boats patrolling the cages in sight Carlos Perez gave the order to myself and Gorka that we had three minutes to jump in the water and photograph tuna underwater trapped in cages.

With mask, fins, snorkels and cameras we rolled off the RIB into the cool blue ocean. To our surprise as we looked beneath the surface all the cages were empty —no nets and no fish.

Without further delay, and only one minute in the water — we returned to RIB and back to the Oceana Marviva Med.

Sea Mount — Seca Del Capo

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Submerged beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea is a seamount Seca Del Capo — that is 25ft/5m short of clearing the surface and becoming an island. The seamount descends to a maximum depth at the seafloor of 330ft/100m.

This seamount is well known as a fishing ground and the Oceana team of underwater explorers set out this afternoon to photograph and videograph the marine life surrounding the seamount. The underwater landscape was blue and beautiful but once again void of any large marine life.

During our hour long dive we observed numerous schools of common small fish (damselfish and wrasses) feeding in abandoned fishing nets that have become part of the topography and an eye soar to an otherwise beautiful location.

Vanishing into the Darkness — A 4am Expedition

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

At 4 am with only the stars and the moon illuminating the darkness of the sea — our expedition team Carlos Perez, Cesar Fuertes, Maria Jose Cornax,Gorka Leclercq, and Keith Ellenbogen rapidly descended down a vertical ladder from the Oceana Marviva Med into the Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) underway at 8 nautical miles per hour.

Our objective this morning was to use the RIB to get close (within 50ft/20m) to the driftnet fishing boats — and to photograph them catching pelagic fish such as swordfish or tuna.

Onboard the RIB, racing through the dark mist of the warm ocean mixing with the cool air and flat seas — we accelerated for about twenty minutes to our first targeted boat the S. Maria. In the open ocean as we approached the driftnet extreme care was taken not to let the propeller get caught in the drifting net — that was nearly impossible to see. For a brief moment, our propeller did get entangled in the net — but was quickly removed by Cesar Fuertes.

Continuing onward we arrived at the S. Maria at 4:35am and noted she had already finished hauling in the driftnet. In frequent communication with Xavier Pastor onboard the Oceana Marviva he proceeded to give us coordinates for our second targeted driftnet fishing boat the Anna Prima.

With tensions high our team carefully positioned the RIB so we were able to photograph (as best we can with virtually no light) the net being hauled in.

With the RIB underway we accelerated through the Tyrrhenian Sea towards our second targeted driftnet fishing boat the Anna Prima. During the 15-20 minutes of reeling in the driftnet we did not observe them catching any pelagic fish. Perhaps they weren’t fishing for them or maybe there were no fish left in this area to catch.

Driftinet fishing is one of the worst methods of fishing as these walls of death kill anything and everything that comes into contact with it.

Many of the Italian driftnet fishing boats aware of their illegal activities have adopted a number of strategies to avoid being easily photographed/videographed. Recently the fisherman have begun hauling in the driftnet under the darkness of night — finishing before light breaks at 5am. A second technique to avoid being photographed is to cut the driftnet and return later in the day. Lastly, the driftnet fishing boats knowing — in advance they have caught a pelagic fish— repositioning the stern of the boat to block the fish being photographed by our RIB.

Driftnet Fishing Boats Harbored in Lipari Island, Italy

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Anchored 15 minutes outside the Harbor of Lipari Island, this morning with a crew of five team members we launched the grey Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) from the Oceana Marviva Med to discreetly document fishing boats and the equipment within the harbor.

On assignment, we noted at least 10-15 fishing boats potentially masked as longliners but armed with driftnets — most likely used for illegal fishing practices. From high above the harbor we photographed a number of fishing boats with winches — a tell-tale sign they are using driftnets.

Back on the Oceana Marviva Med we immediately reported our finding to Expedition Leader Xavier Pastor. Noting the fleet of fishing boats, Xavier suspects these small fishing vessels will leave the harbor in the evening and begin fishing using driftnets during the night.

Our next object will be first, to find the fishing boats, and second, to photograph / videograph the fishing boats with driftnets in the water catching illegal species of fish such as tuna and swordfish.

Painting With The Moon

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

In an abstract artistic expression, this evening with the moon over Stromboli, Italy — I enjoyed painting using the light of the sun reflecting off the moons surface into my camera’s lens and onto the image sensor.

Diving in the Tyrrhenian Sea

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Early this morning, expedition leader Xavier Pastor instructed the dive team — left to right: Gorka Leclercq, Underwater Videographer; Josiean, Dive Master; Alberto Iglesias, Dive Master; Keith Ellenbogen, Underwater Photographer — to prepare for underwater exploration of two small Italian Islands Lipari and Stromboli.

These islands were selected as they offered an opportunity to photograph and videograph marine life living in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The profiles for both dives were similar 65 minutes maximum depth 80ft/25m water temperature 18C/70F with visibility of 80ft/25m.

While underwater, breathing compressed air from our scuba tanks — we observed a number of beautiful living animals such as jellyfish, crabs, vibrant orange polyps, feather dusters, moray eels, octopi, as well as a green spoon worm moving over a bed of algae.

As we surfaced, with the camera still in the housing a lone Gaviota (Sea bird) stood on the rocky shore with his feathers blowing in the wind looking seaward.

In the evening as the sun was setting near Lipari Island it seemed to melt into the horizon blackening this small vertical rock that looked both like a sail or an inverted sharks tooth.

From the ‘observation’ or ‘monkey island’ deck on the Oceana Marviva Med our expedition team took a moment to pause and enjoy this spectacular part of the world — watching the sun slowly descend behind Stromboli, an active volcano, north of Sicily. Like clock work every 15 minutes the volcano had a small eruption releasing a cloud of fumes with the occasional sighting of red flames darting from the mouth of the volcano.

Barely Visible — Collecting Samples

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Once the ‘larvae-net’ has been raised out of the water, the microscopic larvae and small animals are sifted through a fine 500-micrometer mesh net and placed into ethanol containers. The larvae samples are reviewed onboard the Marviva Med by scientist Patricia Lastra. The larvae samples will be sent to the Spanish Oceanic Institute in the Balearic Islands, Spain for final analysis and identification.

Each time the ‘larvae-net’ is hauled out of the water excitement builds within the Marviva Med crew to discover what small animals have been caught. In one sample session I am sad to report that one piece of plastic was lifted out of the net — a reminder that pollution is everywhere within our oceans.

Continuing to look for small animals using my 105mm micro lens I photographed in a Petri dish with a steady hand a small crab and shrimp with beautiful blue eyes. Additionally, within the net we discovered two tiny fish with unusual shapes as well as some larvae that we suspect (but can not yet confirm) our Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. Within the apparent clear water there is a diversity of life just on a microscopic scale.

Sampling for Tuna Larvae

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Oceana is collaborating with Oceanographic Institute researchers, conducting essential research to sample targeted areas within the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea for larvae of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and other pelagic species such as swordfish.

One of the many goals for Oceana is to utilize this data to confirm these are fertile breeding waters for The Atlantic Bluefin — and that conservation measures are needed immediately to prevent the endangered Atlantic Bluefin Tuna from becoming extinct.

Expedition Leader Xavier Pastor and lead scientist Patricia Lastra have identified a number of sampling sites within this region to survey. The procedure for inserting the net into the water is to — use the Marviva Med’s crane to raise, lower and tow the 18ft/6m long mesh nets just below the surface for10 minutes at 2 nautical miles per hour to catch larvae 3-7mm in size.

A Walk Through Napoli, Italy

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Naples, spelled Napoli in Italian is the second largest city in Italy and the origin of the margarita pizza. Traditionally the pizza is made with mozzarella cheese, pomodoro (tomatos) and basil - each representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. The pizza was named after it was served to Queen Margherita when she visited the city.

Throughout the day we walked through the crowded streets of Napoli where we observed a diverse city that included romantically picturesque “vista” where restaurants and expensive yachts overlooked the volcano Vesuvius on the horizon. In contrast to the open ocean view along the harbor walkway — the center of Napoli was over crowded with people, at times trash, small cars, colorful plastic merchandise and cloths lining the skyline covering balconies of residential apartments.

With our ship re-supplied, this afternoon we departed the harbor in a continuing search for driftnet fishing boats.

Industrial Lego’s — A Shipping Container Harbor in Napoli, Italy

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

The Oceana Marviva Med research vessel docked in Pontile Falavio Gioia the cargo shipping center of Napoli, Italy — due to the size of our ship (86ft) and status as a scientific research vessel — we were unable to dock in a less industrial harbor.

Napoli is a large hub for shipping containers — and is where hundreds of containers are shipped each day carrying everything and anything all over the world. Although it appeared chaotic, it was actually a highly organized assembly line of 40 ft containers (weighing up to 3 tons each) which were then carried by trucks, fork lifts, from one location to another before being hoisted sky high on a crane that moved these containers to and from the shipping boats.

Alone in this virtual lego playground, I enjoyed photographing — and imagining the contents — these large containers from K-Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Evergreen, etc in a non-stop frenzy of being loaded and unloaded.

Arriving in Napoli, Italy

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

At 5:30 in the morning, as the sun began to rise over the horizon — the Oceana Marviva Med is approaching the harbor of Napoli, Italy to re-supply the ship with fresh food and fuel. Under the bright yellow light, between the Isla De Ischia on the port side of the vessel and the Island of Capri starboard side our crew continued to watch for illegal driftnet fishing boats from the bridge of our vessel.

This is a known area for driftnet fishing boats and Maria Jose Cornax, scientist and fishing boat expert scans the horizon with her binoculars looking for any activity. Throughout the night — on evening watches from 10pm to 8am each member of the Oceana Crew spent two hours on the bridge recording any fishing boat activity picked up by our radar. Continuing our watches early this morning we did not observe any fishing boats as we prepare to dock in the Napoli harbor Pontile Flavio Gioia.

Discovering Marine Life

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

At 2pm this afternoon the Oceana Dive Team explored the underwater world around Isola Di Ponza, Italy. In calm seas protected by the leeward side of the island we descended to a depth of 100ft/30m for 60 minutes.

In contrast to the last dive where I focused on the environment — for this dive I concentrated on creating an image that captured my impression of the animal as it observed us observing them.

Diving Isola Di Ponza

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Onboard the Oceana Marviva Med, this afternoon at 2pm the Dive team loaded all the scuba diving equipment (scuba tanks, oxygen safety bottle, and camera/video) onto the yellow RIB (Rubber Inflatable Boat) hanging on a crane 15ft/5m over the side of the boat for a dive to Formicce — a short distance from the harbor of Isola Di Ponza.

From the surface, before diving, we observed three fishing boats depart the harbor one after the other. The team immediately began documenting the activity and communicated our observations to the mother-ship (Oceana Marviva Med) — where we received the green light to continue our underwater exploration.

While life can flourish and does flourish — the animals I have recently been observing look stressed. As our team continued the dive we observed, corals decaying, fishing line and buoys caught in rocks and disrupting the scenic landscape as well as an innocent stonefish hiding in a bed of diseased sea grass.

Masking Illegal Fishing — Covering Drift Nets

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Anchored outside the harbor of Isle De Ponza, Italy the Oceana team of photographers, videographers, scientists, and environmentalists boarded the yellow RIB (rubber inflatable boat) to in search of illegal driftnet fishing boats within the marina. Throughout the day we documented approximately 10 fishing boats with illegal driftnets — that were covered under tarps to mask their activities.

To help clarify some of the confusion of why driftnets are used in Italy I asked our lead scientist and fishing boat expert Maria Jose to explain:

Question: Are driftnets in Italy legal?

Driftnets are legal to catch small fish such as anchovies and sardines. But….(she quickly added)

NO. DRIFTNETS ARE NOT LEAGAL IN ITALY or anywhere in the Mediterranean to catch pelagic fish such as swordfish and Tuna — what the fisherman are really catching. This practice has been banned by the United Nations, European Union, and Italy.

Question: If driftnets are legal why do we call it illegal?

it’s a legal loop hole she explained that the fisherman have been taking advantage of — to catch tuna and swordfish (illegally).

Exploring Sardinia’s Marine Life

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

This morning the Oceana dive team traveled an hour and half to the most southern part of Sardinia, Italy to dive around Capo Teulada (Chia Laguna), near Cagliari. With flat seas and the most spectacular turquoise blue the eye can see — we descended into the ocean below the steep vertical cliffs that ascended into the skies.

Underwater at a depth of 60ft/20m surrounded by the relatively warm waters (68F/20C) we swam over the rocky bottom into a small cavern where we discovered an entire wall colonized by bright yellow polyps (Cnidarios sp.) Also hidden within this area were a few small yellow anemones and one motionless stonefish.

Throughout the dive we also noticed in abundance an invasive species of algae from the Red Sea growing rapidly over the seafloor. This non-native species is straining an already delicate ecosystem.

The rest of the topography seemingly lay barren – as there were very few fish and invertebrates.

Sardinia — Looking for Illegal Driftnet Fishing Boats

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

At 9am the Oceana Marviva Med research vessel arrived at the harbor Nuovo Bacino Di Punete in the South of Sardinia, Italy. Upon arrival our land based objective was to look for any illegal driftnet fishing boats docked within harbors Calasseta and Sant Antioco near Cagliari. In years past, fisherman armed with illegal driftnets onboard their boats docked in these harbors — before heading into the Mediterranean off the coast of Italy to illegally fish.

From Nuovo Bacino Di Punete to Cagliari we drove along the winding roads through the peaks and valleys of Sardinia’s mountains topography — where the suns light cast long shadows that accentuated the view from land to sea.

Throughout the day I am pleased to report that we did not observe any illegal driftnets onboard these vessels. However, we remain cautiously optimistic since we have recent reports that confirm driftnet fishing boats are using these harbors.

For a moment, imagine a net that descends 100ft/30meters almost as deep as the maximum depth at which recreational diver can safely descend. The length of the driftnet extends for 12 miles/20 kilometers. That is equivalent to the length of a half-marathon that takes approximately two hours to run from start to finish — if you are in good shape.

Now imagine that any living animal such as a whale, dolphin, sea turtle, shark, stingray, sunfish swimming innocently into this virtually invisible net drifting in the ocean — becoming entangled — struggling to save its life — before its inevitable slow death.

Early this morning, with calm seas, at 6 am the Tunisian Navy Warship stopped our vessel and sent a platoon of 5 men onboard the Oceana Marviva Med from a small inflatable boat. At the time we were heading innocently westward towards Algeria in Tunisian territorial sea near the island of La Galite. Over the past few days the Tunisian Navy has been monitoring our activities in International waters — along the border of Tunisia and Pantalleria Island, Italy — outside the 12 nautical mile limit from the Tunisian coast.

Throughout the past few days the Tunisian Navy would frequently call our vessel over the radio questioning our activities and motives. Due to International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, the Marviva Med is obligated to have our Automatic Identification System (AIS) activated all the time, so we are easily monitored from land.

Every time we changed our course or maneuvered to try to document driftnet fishing boats we received a call from the Coastguard, requesting information about our intentions and what we were doing. They do not "see" the fishing boats, as those do not have AIS. So the Coastguard station sees only the Marviva Med course suddenly doing strange turns around and changing speed and course very often. Making the Tunisian Navy curious.

Onboard, for approximately two hours the Tunisian Navy inspected the boat thoroughly and interviewed both Captain Jan Rautwaara and Expedition Leader Xavier Pastor about the boats intensions.

They were intrigued about the reason and the objectives of our research. They were concerned that we had hydrographic instruments, but we told them that our only instruments were our cameras. Xavier showed them Oceana’s 2006 and 2007 reports on French, Italian and Moroccan drfithentters and also the report "European trawlers are destroying the Oceans" (a title Xavier thought they would like). Finally they seemed to understand the purpose and the importance of the "research".

Xavier, further explained to the Tunisian Navy how we were documenting the activities of four Italian driftnetters and how we managed to get pictures and identification of one of them while hauling in the net. The other three boats flied into Tunisian waters when they saw us. We followed them and that was when we were identified by our AIS transmissions by the Tunisia Coast Guard land station.

Since our sighting of these four driftnet fishing boats we have been constantly monitored by the Tunisian Navy. Xavier showed the Navy Officer pictures of the Italian driftnetters we have taken and asked me to prepare a DVD copy of the pictures to take back to their ship.

During the process of selecting the pictures, the photos of our cheerful crew watching the soccer European final between Spain and Germany appeared in the screen, and the situation went smoothly after this — as the officer started to smile. The crew onboard the warship had also been watching the game last night.

The Spanish “furia” team is known for its technical agility, graceful ball movement. It has had a frustrating world champion curse —preventing the national team from winning the trophy over the last 44 years. Second to the WorldCup Championship the EuroCup is the most sought after football trophy. In the final match Spain versus the favored Germans — the tides have changed and Spain returned to days of glory!

A Day to Remember! June 29, 2008; 22:45

Spain is the Euro Cup Champion — defeating Germany 1-0.

Onboard the Oceana Marviva, where the crew is international but predominately Spanish — in the expedition room — streaming the game live from the Mediterranean in Italian waters near the African coast — all activities stopped –except the watch for driftnetters in the bridge - and everyone cheered for a Spanish victory. Throughout the evening our team celebrated with a Espectacular GOOOOOOOL del niño Fernando Torres! Putting the German rivals in their place :-)

Over the course of the expedition the Oceana team has watched each round of the cup of the EuroCup. Below sitting on the steps outside the restaurant of San Paolo Naufrago surrounded by Italians –some of them being the crew of the tuna purseiner Luigi Padre in Malta we cheered for Spain as they beat Italy in a nail biting shoot out in which San Iker Casillas blocked 2 of the 5 penalty kicks — revenging past losses.

One of the Oceana team members, expert diver and die hard football fan, Alberto Iglesias was quoted as saying “Pensaba que nos ibamos a morir sin vivir esto… (I thought we are going to die without seeing this”)

Happy Birthday Xavier Pastor

Expedition Leader Xavier Pastor has directed the Marviva Med into the Italian waters South of Sicily along the boarder of the African coast heading west from Tunisia towards Algeria. Within this region near Africa, very little is known about the activity of fishermen and fishing boats. Additionally, Xavier explained to the Oceana Team that the Italian fishermen continue the illegal practice of driftnet fishing. Now with two methods of fishing under surveillance (purseiners and driftnetters) our campaign and our scope of work has broadened to include evening watches — when the drift net fishing boats are active. Each member of the Oceana team was assigned two-hour watches in the bridge from 9pm to 7am.

Driftnets also commonly known as “Walls of Death” — and is an illegal fishing practice in the Mediterranean. These nets are very long and can easily drift for hundreds of kilometers in the open sea — entangling and killing everything that comes into contact with the net.

One of the many reason driftnet fishing is illegal is because their by-catch is frequently protected, threatened and endangered marine animals such as dolphins, whales, sharks, sea turtles, and many other precious sea creatures. Recognizing the destructive nature of this practice the United Nations in the 1990’s established an international moratorium prohibiting the use of driftnets. In 2002, they were banned by the European Union for all their boats operating in any waters. Unfortunately many boats continue to fish using the destructive driftnets.

Throughout the world every day in every city there is a fish market just like this one — that we documented in Malta Harbor at 3:30 in the morning — that brings fresh fish to your home and restaurant each day of the week 365 days a year.

No tuna are sold here — for these fish are much too valuable. Rather the tuna are processed on boats at sea and shipped directly to Japan or to your local sushi restaurant.

But what was sold here was extremely small swordfish and what I would call baby sharks. As I walked through the market photographing the now lifeless small swordfish tossed on the floor I wondered what Ernest Hemmingway would have thought of his once great “macho” fish — that challenged man — now reduced to this embarrassingly small size. At that moment, I imagined if this were the size of all the swordfish or marlin that the ‘old man’ caught in “The Old Man and The Sea” he would have recognized it was not worthy of keeping and rather tossed it back for future generation.

I feel there is still time to save fish populations but we must work together to change our eating habits and choose sustainable fish for consumption — and allow populations to rebuild — thus maintaining a sustainable future.

Departing Malta

Escorted by a pilot boat this morning we departed Malta harbor in search of illegal driftnet fishing boats around Sicily.

Over the next couple of days we dove the following dive sites:

Gozo Island — The Inland Sea Tunnel: On this dive we descended to 80ft/26m for 80 minutes swimming through a dark underwater tunnel that extends for 240ft/80m to the dimly back lit seaward entrance. While the topography was beautiful the only sea life noted was a very small grouper (less then 8in/20cm), one lobster, and a couple of little octopi scurrying through the rocky bottom near our entry point on the inland side of the tunnel.

Gozo Island — The Blue Hole: With all our scuba diving equipment and photography gear we trekked from the car about 3-5 minutes down a rocky path to the beautiful blue hole. Aptly named for the spectacular turquoise blue water — with calm seas we descended 60ft/20m for 70 minutes.

Gozo Island — Blue Dome Cathedral and Valley. From the car, once again carrying all our scuba equipment and dive gear we descended 99 steep steps into the valley. Swimming on the surface soaking in the spectacular view of the valley as we swam 250 meters through the gorge. Underwater on our 10-minute journey to the mystical blue dome the marine environment did not look healthy.

Departing Malta — In Search of Illegal Fishing

As we depart Malta our campaign objective to protect the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna from over exploitation and fishing is now more critical then ever. With fisherman capable of catching over 10,000 breeding Atlantic Bluefin Tuna each day — it is imperative that populations are protected for future generations.

Expedition leader Xavier Pastor explained to our team that tensions are high between international regulatory agencies and the fishing industry. From the fisherman’s point of view the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is a commodity and one that is very valuable. While we are optimistic the European industrial purseiners will stop fishing the likelihood is they will continue to fish — but now ILLEGALLY.

Thirty nautical miles from Malta we observed and photographed the following fishing boats: Luigi Padre (TP 762), Essaida Jannet (SF 2541); Abr Albihar (1408), Maria Antonietta (SA 57), SP 250, Abr Albihar (1407), Serter Ahmet 1. Two of the fishing boats had nets in the water and the others appeared to be searching for additional schools of tuna.

In the late afternoon, our small team of photographers and videographers prepared to depart in the grey rubber inflatable boat (RIB) for a closer inspection of the fishing fleet. As we were descending the ladder onto the RIB the Luigi Padre from Italy sailed within 10 meters of our boat – no words were exchanged just a close inspection. In the RIB Cesar Fuertes, Operations Coordinator looks onward as we navigate in close proximity around a number of fishing boats — illegally fishing in the case of the Italians.

Immediately after removing the net we changed tanks and went for an exploratory dive along the rocky shore of Isla Pantelleria. From the RIB wearing our scuba diving equipment we rolled backwards into the water and slowly descended into the vibrant blue ocean.

The clear water and rocky bottom was covered with a deep green sea grass. With the exception of a few small wrasse, I did not see any fish. However, looking under a couple crevices I found a large spiny lobster moving his antennae side to side.

Throughout the night the swell of the seas continued — and anything not secured slid onto the floor.

Bonding with the sea

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

Many people ask me why we are following these purseiners bluefin tuna fishing boats? What do we hope to accomplish?

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not” — Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

The first problem to address is tuna populations are seriously declining. These are not fabricated numbers or stories. It is real and worse yet really happening. Only two generations ago the tuna populations used to be healthy. Today they are in the eve of colapse.

What scientists, governments and non-profit organizations like Oceana are trying to do is enforce sustainable fishing quotas for a sustainable future. That is to say we want to maintain populations so that there will be bluefin tuna for future generations.

Check these facts out

• Beginning of May the Mediterranean fishing season opens

• An estimated, 10,000 bluefin tuna are caught each day by commercial fishermen.

• An estimated 27,000 tons of bluefin tuna will potentially have been caught by end of May.

• International Fishing Law permits 29,500 tons of bluefin tuna to be caught during the season from May – June.

• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT, the body mandated to ensure the sustainable management of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery), estimates that maximum catch should be of some 15,000 tones per year

(These facts were published by WWF in Bluefin Tuna Bulletin #47 May 23, 2008)

To put this number in perspective in less than one month of fishing it is estimated they caught 27,000 tons of bluefin tuna. This is virtually their entire quota in less than on month. For the entire season they are allowed to catch 29,500 tons of bluefin tuna. In simple terms its crazy. In fact this number is double what leading scientists consider sustainable fishing practice. At this rate there will be no tuna that can reach a size to breed to replenish their numbers.

Like an addict looking for his/her next fix the fisherman can not slow down their appetite to catch more and more of the bluefin tuna. In fairness it’s not just the fisherman but also the general publics demand.

What you can do?

I urge each of you to reduce your consumption for bluefin tuna

More to follow on the fishing industry as well as the habits and behaviors of what makes the bluefin tuna so special.

Expedition Log:

In the middle of the night we lost the purseiner fishing boats. This was not unexpected. Expedition leader Xavier Pastor thought that perhaps the fishing boats returned to Formentera Island late last night to anchor in the bay. With the break of light at 5:30 am the captain set our course direction back to Formentera Island. When we arrived at around 11 am the two purseiners (left, Gerald Jean IV MA-916469, Marseille; right, Gerard Luc IV ST 900236 were anchored in the bay.

For the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed swimming in the Mediterranean. One of the more exciting photographs today was a moment of luck — that revealed dive team member Alberto Iglesias’s head poking out a ball of small air bubbles after jumping off the side of the Oceana/Marviva into the blue, crystal clear, and relatively cold water.

Waiting

Keith Ellenbogen - Underwater Photographer

With overcast skies and a slight sea breeze at around 8am two of the four purseiner fishing left the bay heading southeast. We decided to remain anchored and wait with the two other purseiner fishing boats.

A Little Visitor

At about 11 am the Guardia Civil helicopter flew overhead while we continue to remain anchored in the bay of Formentera Island.

The Fishing boats depart

At 1pm the second pair of purseiner fishing boats started their engines and began to motor out of the bay of Formentera Island. Captain Jani Forsgaard followed the boats southeast as we charted a course into the open ocean of the Balearic Sea.

While on the observation deck Jan Rautawaara TITLE proudly showed us this original brass magnetic compass in a mahogany case. He is a collector of vintage seafaring equipment and over the next few months is going to refurbish the equipment to its original state.

Soaring Gaviota

At around 2pm with no land in sight the Secretaria General De Pesca (Inspeccion Pesquera) airplane flew overhead.

Tug Boat with Tuna Cages

At 3:30pm, 15 nautical miles southeast of Formentera Island we noticed the former bottom trawler Gasparillo, from La Vila Joiosa (3a AT.4.2.97) towing a tuna cage 50 meters in diameter. We are not sure if the cages are full or empty with bluefin tuna. However, we did notice the Gerald Jean IV MA-916469, Marseille pass very close to the tug boat. Despite our curiosity we continued moving southeast following our two targeted ships.

As the sun begins to set we have be underway for the past 7 hours and are now approximately 40 nautical miles from Formentera Island in the Balearic Sea.

Into the Night

9:00 Pursainers Depart

12:00 pm The Purseiners Anchor

1pm Oceana Photographic/Videographic Team Prepares to go close to the Fishing Boats

Carlos Pérez, skipper of the Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIB) and Oceana’s Logistics Coordinator gathered team members: Cesar Fuertes, deckhand, Keith Ellenbogen, Photographer and Enrique Talledo, videographer. The purpose of this mission is to maneuver close to the boats and document any activity. With choppy waters and mild wind Carlos advised the Oceana team to prepare all photographic equipment against the probability and likelihood of getting wet from the oceans spray.

1:30 The RIB is Lowered into the Ocean

Cesar Fuertes performs a final check on the engine on the RIB and the Marviva crew lowers the RIB into the ocean.

2:30 pm Carlos Perez Accelerates towards the Fishing Boats