Sailing for the Albatross

Forest and Bird, Issue 312, 1 May 2004, Page 44

Sailing for the Albatross

CAROL KNUTSON

Forest and Bird staffer

writes of sailing with

John Ridgway's ‘Save the Albatross’ voyage and its local impact.

he British adventurer John Ridgway has spent part of each of the last six decades in the Southern Ocean, sailing with the albatross. He says he wants to come back as one. But this will not be possible if they are extinct. If you have sailed with an albatross you will know the pleasure of their company at sea. But you do not need to be a sailor to understand that albatrosses are heading for extinction because of the threat of longline fishing. Over 300,000 seabirds are killed by longlining each year. The birds are attracted to a ‘free meal’ set on long-line hooks and then dragged to their death beneath the waves. These deaths are needless and preventable. Over the past decade we have witnessed a decline in seabird deaths from the legal fisheries within New Zealand waters. Forest and Bird can take some of

the credit for this improvement, but we must keep up pressure on the legal fisheries to improve, and continue to campaign to stamp out illegal or pirate fishers. That’s why Forest and Bird teamed up with John Ridgway, one of Britain’s most celebrated adventurers, to raise public awareness about this issue. John Ridgway first came to fame in 1966 when he rowed the Atlantic with Chay Blyth. Amongst other adventures, John has sailed in the Whitbread Around the World Race and held the world record for the fastest non-stop sailing voyage around the globe. Last year he decided to set out around the world again. This time it would be for the albatross. The ‘John Ridgway Save the Albatross Voyage’ would sail from Scotland to Cape Town and then circumnavigate the globe, following the track of the wandering albatross. Conservation organisations

around the world agreed to join the adventure to help raise public awareness about the needless slaughter of the albatross. For Forest and Bird the voyage was the catalyst for hosting an international petition on our website, and the chance for representatives to join the yacht as volunteer crew. The petition is targeted at lobbying the United Nations to put an end to the pirate fishing industry and shut down their trade in illegally caught fish. Over 13,000 people have signed already. John Ridgway and BirdLife International will present this petition to the United Nations in Rome this June. Forest and Bird staff member Carol Knutson was aboard ‘English Rose VI’ when it sailed into Wellington on January 10, after a 13-day Tasman crossing from Melbourne, Australia. The

story of the ‘albatross adventure’ was captured by national media and John and Carol spoke about the fate of the albatross to a capacity audience at Te Papa’s theatre. On January 24 ‘English Rose VI sailed from Wellington. Many well-wishers joined the Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, in farewelling the crew and wishing them a safe passage around Cape Horn on their way to the Falkland Islands. You can follow the voyage on www.savethealbatross.org reading John’s log, which is sent from the boat. John Ridgway’s visit to New Zealand was a wonderful opportunity for us to tell people about the albatross. Please sign the petition. We must keep up this battle to save the albatross — Symbol of the Southern Ocean. — CAROL KNUTSON.