Protecting the Galapagos

July 1

We left Santa Cruz 2 days ago with 7 new people on board. We had a pro surfer and his film crew, a New Yorker reporter and some Sea Shepherd office people join us in Puerto Ayora to go over to Isabella to see the mangrove destruction officially, but finding poachers was our main objective. Just after we left port we were chased by a speedboat and when they caught up with us we saw that they had two of our new crew members who had just arrived from LA on board. So after the two new crew, Shannon and Steven, were on board, we steamed on over to Isabella and dropped anchor outside Puerta Villamil. Last night we called a water taxi out and 7 of us went into the sleepy town for a few beers. Midnight rolled around fairly quickly and we had to get back so Pedro and I could be on watch.

The next day the national park director met us at the dock and took us for a tour around the island. He showed us the different types of forest (wet and dry), the giant tortoise breeding center and took us up to a vista overlooking the island and the port. When we got back to the ship, the main engines were started and we were underway again in no time. However, instead of heading directly towards Puerto Ayora, we headed west along the coast of Isabella.

We knew there were poachers that frequented the waters off the southern coast of Isabella for a number of reasons. They had been found there in the past, and when we were coming through the area a week ago, not only did we come across stray long line buoys but we also came across two poaching boats but were unable to catch them. Normally poachers will come in during the evening, lay down a line and then pull it back in again in the morning. With our guests and all of the media on board, it would be great to come across some illegal fishers so that people outside of the Galapagos could see what is going on in here. Pedro and I had watch from midnight until four am and the moon was nearly full. It was fairly bright outside, and although we were constantly looking for buoys, we had an uneventful watch and went to bed around 4:30 am.

At 8 am I awoke to hear people on deck yelling “Longline!” over and over again. I immediately jumped out of my bed and put on some pants and a crew shirt. I knocked on Pedro’s cabin door to wake him up in case he hadn’t heard the commotion already and then I headed up on deck. By the time I got there, the line was already being pulled in. Within a few minutes the first fish was found; a dead yellow fin tuna. The buoys that were keeping the line afloat were empty plastic containers and very basic. Every thirty meters or so a hook would be found and cut off before the line was pulled in. On most of the hooks were pieces of squid used as bait. Some hooks were empty: lucky free breakfast for someone. Alex yelled down to the deck crew to hurry and start pulling in faster because the fishing boat was spotted at the other end and they seemed to be pulling in the line from the other end. I could hardly believe the fisherman would be so audacious! They were blatantly in violation of the marine reserve laws which prohibit long line fishing within 40 kilometers of any island in the archipelago. We couldn’t let them collect any fish from that line and get away with it. What was most important to us at that time was getting the long line out of the water. If we could identify them as well, that would be fantastic so that they could be held responsible for their actions.

Conniss started making preparations to launch the zodiac to try and get close enough to identify the boat since they weren’t running away. I was invited to join the zodiac since I was the only Spanish speaker on the crew. At first it was Conniss driving the zodiac with Simeon filming, me on the radio and GPS and Raffi, the New Yorker reporter. Once we got the order, the zodiak was launched and we were speeding off across the waves towards the poachers small fishing boat. As we got closer we could see the poachers just standing still in their boat; it was as if they were waiting for us. They must have realized that we were heading straight for them and meant business, because when we were a few hundred meters away they laid down the throttle and headed away from the Farley at top speed. We were close behind and to our delight, they were not gaining on us at all. As they were fleeing, we saw them pulling out unattached lines and plastic jugs and throwing them overboard. No doubt they were trying to get rid of the evidence. At one point we went over the top of a line that they had thrown out and before we could stop, it had got caught in the propeller. We cut it loose as quickly as we could and marked the position of the discarded line on the GPS so that we could retrieve it later.

We were off again in pursuit of the poachers and we were gaining on them. The zodiac was pounding over the waves and we were doing all we could to hang on, stay in the boat and keep an eye on the poachers. I was also trying to juggle the radio and GPS and stay in contact with the bridge crew on the Farley. We got to be nearly 6 miles away from the ship, and were going to loose our line of sight to the Farley soon. At that point, we would need to turn around. What was really important was just to keep the poachers away from the long line so that we could pull it in and save any animals that may have already become entangled.

Alex had told me that if I were to speak to the poachers, I should only say that they were in violation of the fishing regulations of the Galapagos marine reserve and that they needed to stop their illegal activities. Although I was totally capable and willing of doing this, I saw no point in actually having contact with the poachers and I thought we would be much safer and happier in fact if we didn’t need to have a confrontation. As we got closer and closer, Simeon was filming so that we could identify the boat and the poachers once back in port and use the film as evidence. We got to be within 20 meters of their boat, and had lost sight of the Farley. There was no need to establish contact with the poachers, and so with the video evidence we needed I waved goodbye to the three men in their small boat and we turned back to the ship.

The rest of the morning and into the afternoon we were chasing around pulling in buoys, flags and the lines attached to them. From the zodiac we came across 5 dead yellow fin tuna. The freshly dead fish were absolutely beautiful and impressive in form. We came across a sea turtle as well which had somehow managed to find itself in the middle of a mess of lines and buoys and not get tangled up. We got close enough to the turtle to make it wary and after a few minutes it dove and swam away to safety. There was a manta ray that was not so lucky. It had somehow managed to have a hook pierce it’s back and peel a chunk of flesh away. The zodiac team was called in near the Farley to release the ray from the line. As we got close to it, I could see that the wound was quite deep and I could see different colors and types of tissue exposed. I got as close as I could to the ray and cut the line. I couldn’t get the hook out without causing more damage, so the hook and about 2 feet of line were left attached to the back of the ray. I was disgusted and saddened to see that beautiful animal hurt unnecessarily. Once the line was free, the ray glided down and away from us, no doubt extremely tired and stressed out from the ordeal. We can only hope that it is able to recover from the injuries and stress it endured.

Lines were being pulled in from both the Farley and the zodiac. As we were pulling in the thin nylon lines by hand, we were slowly being covered by dead fish tissues that coated the lines. The bottom of the zodiac quickly filled with lines and hooks. Pulling in the kilometers of lines was not at all easy from the zodiac. The Farley was using a winch to pull up and collect the lines but I was pulling in the lines and buoys by hand. The media guys who joined us in the zodiac were right in it with me cutting hooks off and pulling in lines. It was fantastic for them to be right in the action with us.

Everything went so smoothly and I am really happy with how everything unfolded yesterday. Although we don’t have the names of the individual poachers, we have their boat and their faces on film. We got to the lines fairly early and were able to pull in many hooks that were either completely empty or only containing bait. The deck team on the Farley pulled in around 15 yellow fin tuna, with most of them already dead. They also pulled in a couple of small rays, one alive and one dead. With every minute later that we could have pulled in the lines, there would have no doubt been more casualties. All in all we pulled 270 hooks out of the water yesterday; a few lives were lost, but at least 250 lives were spared which is undoubtedly a success. One really feels mixed emotions after an action like pulling in the long line. It is so good to be able to pull in that line, see the empty hooks and physically feel the positive work you are doing. It is also depressing and frustrating knowing that these lines are put out every day and every day they needlessly kill hundreds of innocent animals. One feels especially angry coming across these illegal lines in the Galapagos marine reserve which is supposed to be a marine protected area.

Once the lines were collected and everybody was back on board, we started steaming back to Puerto Ayora. Since we altered our original course and then stopped to collect the long lines, we would be returning back to port about 24 hours later than expected. No doubt the port authorities would be slightly upset with us since we were not authorized to go on any sort of patrol. Once back in port we will hand over all evidence of the incident to the national park, and hope that justice will be done. The poachers should be presented with a minimum $500 fine each if they are found and arrested. Justice seems to be a funny thing here in the Galapagos with money exchanging hands and crimes going unnoticed if the criminal has the right name. We can only hope that the national park is able to locate the poachers and that they are punished with a fine that is enough of a deterrent so that they won’t be repeat offenders. The Galapagos are an international treasure, an ecological jewel of sorts and it would be an unforgivable shame if fishermen are allowed to destroy it for temporary economic gains.