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1 Defending the Oceans One of the benefits and advantages of being involved with Sea Shepherd is that we have the largest privately owned navy in the world. With eight larger ships in operation right now and the recently launched Ocean Warrior making nine. This fleet allows us to conduct antipoaching and monitoring operations all around the world. From patrolling the high seas, where no one else will travel to working with governments as well as local and international law enforcement authorities. This year we have started working with the government of Gabon to patrol their waters, allowing Gabonese Navy (Marine Nationale) and Fisheries Observers from the Fisheries Enforcement Agency (ANPA) to conduct monitoring and boarding of both legal and illegal fishing vessels. So far these patrols have resulted in 3 illegal vessels being detained and legal fishing operations being caught conducting illegal fishing activity. We have patrolled the waters of Galapagos to protect them from shark finning poachers, tracked whaling vessels around the Southern Oceans and have followed toothfish poachers from Antarctica to Africa. We are able to provide a resource to countries that do not have the capacity to properly patrol their own waters. With the help of our supporters Sea Shepherd can continue to assist countries in safeguarding their own waters from illegal fishing operations. The fight for our oceans is a fight for Life itself 1

2 Antarctica Penguins One of the animals that inhabit Antarctica is the Penguin. There are 18 known species of Penguin, all of which are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Penguins can be seen from Antarctica to the Equator, from the ice sheets to the warmer climate of the Galapagos Islands. Of these 18 species, 8 live in Antarctica and the sub- Antarctic region. Four of these species also breed in Antarctica: the Emperor, Adeile&Penguin& Adeile, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. Another three species, King, Royal and Rockhopper penguins are found around places like the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Heard Island, in the sub-antarctic region. The Macaroni penguin, which is the most common penguin, has been found to have colonies from the Antarctic peninsula to the sub-antarctic islands. While Emperor Penguin populations are considered to be stable, at up to 600,000, the IUCN* has them listed as Near Threatened due to the rising impacts of climate change which could see falling populations in the years to come. They rely heavily on sea ice, which is declining in some areas, and their food sources are also being depleted. Emperor&Penguin& Adeile penguins with a population of upwards of 5 million have also been IUCN listed as Near Threatened due to the growing impact from climate change, which will see a decline in some colonies over the coming years. Gentoo&Penguin& The most well known of these are the Emperor penguins, who brave the coldest of times to protect their eggs until they hatch. Travelling long distances across sea ice to their breeding grounds, they can be found up to 200km inland from the open sea. Chinstrap&Penguin& Protecting Antarctica from over fishing, especially krill, and the impacts of climate change will help protect the future of these species. During the winter season temperatures can fall as low as minus 50 o c, with wind gusts of up to 200km per hour. Adelie, Chinstrap and the Gentoo penguin also brave the cold winds to breed on the sea ice, although they start their season much later than the Emperor penguin, once the worst of winter is over. If you want to find out the current status of other species then visit the IUCN Red List website *IUCN is the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2

3 Campaign Update Operation Driftnet Following on from the success of Operation Icefish, the MV Steve Irwin recently completed another campaign targeting illegal drift-netters from China. While patrolling in January 2016 for illegal fishing vessels they came across a fleet of six vessels using driftnets. Upon seeing the Steve Irwin the fleet abandoned its net and started to run. Driftnets were banned in 1992, by a United Nations Moratorium, solely because of the destruction they wreak upon the oceans. Driftnets catch everything in their path, as a 100m deep wall of net floats just beneath the surface. Sea Shepherd is committed to tackling fisheries crime on the High Seas. In areas of the oceans, outside of any enforceable laws. We collect evidence of the crime and work closely with government and land-based law enforcement agencies to ensure that those found acting illegally are brought to justice in courts across the world. Sea Shepherd has a long history of stopping driftnetters. In 1987 we challenged Taiwanese and Japanese drift-netters in the North Pacific and the Bering Sea, covering ground all the way past Adak in the Aleutians and within sight of the coastline of the Soviet Union. In 1990 we intervened against Taiwanese drift-netters in the North Pacific. In 1991 we confronted them in the Caribbean, and in 1992 we challenged them a thousand miles due north of Hawaii. The crew of the MV Steve got to see how destructive they are when they collected 4 km of abandoned net and recovered 321 animals across 12 different species, including sharks, seals and dolphins that had drowned in the net, as well as the target species the critically endangered Southern Bluefin Tuna and Albacore. The MV Steve Irwin followed the Fu Yuan Yu illegal drift-netting fleet back to China, collecting and documenting evidence on their operations, which has been handed over to Chinese authorities. Chinese authorities conducted an investigation of the fleet and determined that they had been operating illegally. The licenses of all vessels owned by the company behind this fleet of 6 were suspended, the Fu Yuan Yu fleet is to remain in port, the captains of the vessels had their certificates as Masters (captains) revoked and each vessel was issued with a fine. Despite the ban implemented in 1993 by the UN there are still some fishing fleets out their using drift-nets. The Fu Yuan Yu will not be the last drift-netters that we hunt down, but hopefully, with the cooperation of the Chinese authorities, there are now 6 less vessels illegally fishing this way. To find our more about our new campaign Operation Driftnet visit 3

4 Defending the Galapagos One of the most amazing places on this planet is the Galapagos Islands, where an array of unique wildlife calls home. It is a group of islands off the west coast of South America controlled by Ecuador. Created by volcanos millions of years ago, it is made up of 18 main islands, 3 small and over a 100 rocks and islets, spanning 8,000km 2 of land and surrounded by a 70,000km 2 marine reserve. It is a UN World Heritage site. Sea Shepherd has an agreement with the government of Ecuador to help protect the Galapagos, allowing our vessels to patrol the region detecting illegal activities. One investigation undertaken by our team in 2007 led to raids on mainland Ecuador, resulting in the seizure of 45,000 shark fins and 92,000 sea cucumbers that had been poached from the waters around the Galapagos. In addition our crews and supporters have helped to fund and implement a number of other measures to help protect the marine reserve. In 2008 K-9, sniffer dog units were set up in partnership with the Ecuadorian National Police to help detect illegally smuggled wildlife. Kennels have been set up on 3 of the main islands for the teams to work from. This allows them to check ports and airports to detect smuggling operations. Sea Shepherd helps to fund the training and welfare of the dogs, as well as re-homing dogs when they retire. The abundance of marine life in the area has seen it become the target of poachers illegally fishing for sharks, purely for their fins, and sea cucumbers. Sea Shepherd has been working to protect the Galapagos for over 15 years. In the early days the national parks rangers had very little in the way of resources to patrol and protect the waters around the many islands. In 2000 Sea Shepherd was able to deliver to them a vessel, the Sirenian, so they could undertake patrols. The ability to increase surveillance in the area led to more illegal vessels being caught and long-lines being removed, which has led to a reduction in illegal poaching. Sea Shepherd runs an educational program on Shark awareness for local schools, to educate local children on how to help protect the future of sharks. In 2012 we were able to supply and install a new AIS (Automatic Indication System) and radio communications system. This helps to detect vessels within the marine reserve so they can be monitored and allows the rangers to better coordinate communicate across the region. Sea Shepherd has also been working to strengthen the laws to protect the marine park and increase the prosecution of poaches, as well as producing an Environmental law manual. Protecting eco-systems like the Galapagos is an important but difficult task, there are many different areas on which this battle is being fought laws, education, detection and enforcement. 4

5 Protecting our Oceans Become an Ocean Protector Fishing is one of the big recreational pastimes in Australia, with thousands of people out fishing across the country each week. While some do the right thing and take home all of their fishing gear, many are leaving behind off casts of damaged fishing line, hooks and nets putting at risk marine life and sea birds. In addition commercial fishing operations can leave behind larger nets that can be deadly. Here are some of the items to watch for if you go fishing or boating: attached, they can either float along the surface trapping anything from whales, dolphins, seals, seabirds and any number of species of fish, or they could sink to the bottom and drag along the sea bed destroying the eco-system on the seafloor. Catching on corals and entangling any sea life as they go. Cray pots discarded or even active craypots if not closely monitored can entrap more than crayfish. Migrating whales are becoming entangled in craypots as the ropes wrap around their tails weighting them down. Fishing&line&and&hooks&found&under&a&jetty& Fishing tackle and lines at beach and jetty clean ups we often find discarded fishing line and tackle with hooks or weights still attached. Any number of marine species or birds could become entangled in these or caught on hooks and die unnecessarily. Nets lost overboard from boats become ghost nets that can drift into the path of fish and other species trapping and killing them. Discarded nets from commercial fishing operations can have a huge impact depending on whether they have buoys Just remember that what goes with you should go home with you. Don t leave anything behind, fishing line, hooks or rubbish. Make every effort to retrieve it and dispose of it properly. If you are out boating and find nets floating in the water make every effort to recover them and help protect our oceans and marine life. SS!Hong!Kong!collecting!nets!from! around!the!harbour! Nets&found&on&the&beach&in&southern&WA& 5

6 Quick Facts Penguins The Little Penguin, also known as the Fairy Penguin, is this the smallest penguin species at only 33cm in height. They can be found along the Southern Australian and New Zealand coastlines. The Emperor Penguin is the tallest at up to 120cm high, weighting up to 45 kg The most common penguin is the Macaroni. They are migratory; travelling from the southern oceans to areas off Brazil, South Africa and Australia to feed. They can travel up to 400km to a feeding ground Dangers to Penguins The main threats to penguins include overfishing of their food sources, such as squid, fish and krill and climate change, which is altering their habitats as waters warm. 6

7 Schools News Sea Shepherd runs a schools education program, with a range of presentations on offer. Find out more about why the oceans are important, what is damaging our oceans and Sea Shepherd s work to stop illegal fishing. Contact educationau@seashepherd.org.au for more information. World Environment Botanic Gardens Some of our education team spent the day talking to students from a number of schools about how important the oceans are and what they can do to help. Lots of interested students and some really great questions. It is great to see the importance schools are placing on environmental issues. Sea Shepherd Australia Australia@seashepherd.org.au Sea Shepherd South Australia Adelaide@seashepherd.org.au 7

8 Colour me in and send a copy or photo to EducationAU@seashepherd.org.au 8