March 2006 - Ocean Defenders Newsletter #4 Julian says: tell a friend and spread the message There are now 45 thousand Ocean Defenders from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, Estonia to Zimbabwe. One of our newest Ocean Defenders, Julian Lennon, says "Signing up as an Ocean Defender means you are prepared to take a stand at a crucial point in history. Now is the time for us to act - to save whales, to end the greed and injustice of piracy and overfishing, and make sure we defend the oceans for future generations. Please send this to a friend and ask them to join us now." Pirate fishing - Stolen fish, Stolen futures? Hello Ocean Defenders! After spending 73 days at sea defending the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, the Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza has set sail again, this time to turn world attention on the plague of pirate fishing. Meet Sarah Duthie Sarah is the Oceans Campaigner leading the next leg of the Defending our Oceans Expedition. She has also been known to teach her crew to knit during rough weather! Where is the Esperanza going next? After showing the world the terrible reality of whaling - we are out to expose another reality - pirate fishing. We are heading to the Atlantic to show that pirate vessels that cash in on the lucrative market for tuna, are taking thousands of tons of fish, in complete contravention of international regulations. The pirates also snare turtles, sharks and seabirds with their 100 km fishing lines. What do you hope to achieve on this leg of the voyage? We hope to convince governments to act - not just talk. Every day, in every ocean, pirate fishing boats are stealing fish and leaving a trail of environmental destruction in their wake. How did you feel seeing the images broadcast from the previous crew out in the Southern Ocean? I was very moved, they did an amazing job. They really made the world stand up and take notice. I hope we can do the same and highlight that pirate fishing fleets operate without sanction across the globe. Click here for more information on the campaign to 'defend our oceans' Whaling update- Nissui watch Ocean Defenders from around the world have sent 40 thousand emails to Gorton's, 15 thousand to Nissui Europe, and 13 thousand to Sealord demanding they get out of the whaling business. And all these emails are starting to have an effect. In February 2006, The Boston Globe in the US reported that 17 year old Ocean Defender Alexandra Weinstein, who managed to get her high school to sign postcards to Gorton's. "'Gorton's has strongly encouraged Nissui… to use whatever influence they have to appeal to the Japanese government to stop whaling," wrote Dave Weber, Gorton's VP of Environmental Affairs, to Alexandra. "We have also asked them to sever any connections they might have with the Japanese government's whaling program." TAKE ACTION!   Write to Nissui   Find the Nissui-affiliated company in your area and tell them to get out of the whaling business.   Recruit your friends   We are aiming for a million Ocean Defenders. Every person counts!   Donate now!   and help defend our oceans ON THE WEBSITE Join the discussion At last we Ocean Defenders can talk to each other - come and see who's onboard in the Ocean Defender Community and discuss whale meat dog food, or share ideas. You can keep your own online journal to share your ideas with the rest of the community. It's in English only for now and more languages coming soon! If you want to post comments you'll need to log-in with a password that you can get here. On the blog Check out the weblog to meet the new crew onboard the Esperanza! What makes the blog so interesting is that it's not just us talking -- you can participate, too. AMAZING OCEAN FACT Coral is so similar to human bone that it is used in bone grafting operations.