Earth Day. You’d think groups like Greenpeace would love a holiday-status occasion that's centered around Nature and Ecology. Truth is, as it relates to the greater environmental movement, Earth Day is something of a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it’s great to have a day where everyone celebrates the earth and thinks about the environment. In classrooms across the country, kids are learning about ecology and issues that range from pollution and global warming to endangered species. Communities everywhere hold events to celebrate the planet and do something that’s good for it, with themes that include Clean the Park, Bike to Work and Plant a Tree. For one day each year, the environment is center stage, and issues pertaining to its health and well being are on the minds of just about everyone.

On the other hand, there’s an element of Earth Day that resembles the tradition of people who just go to church on Christmas Eve. How many individuals each year sit in the pews during this annual Yuletide church excursion and vow to be better people, only to conveniently slip back into their normal patterns of not-so-saintly behavior right about the time New Years Eve kicks off? Probably about as many as vow to do something good for the environment on Earth Day, then on April 23^rd continue to ride to work alone in their SUV’s, buy way too much plastic, chemlawn their yards and leave on every light in the house.

And of course there’s the corporate piece. At Christmas you have big business leveraging a spiritual holiday to increase sales and ramp up their bottom line. For Earth Day, polluting corporations annually attempt to use it as a marketing stage, to fraudulently convince consumers that they really are ecologically friendly despite the millions of pounds of poison they spew into the air and water every day. The common term for this is "greenwashing", which is the marketing equivalent of spraying whipped cream and expensive perfume on a steamy pile of horse dung.

Thus the "catch" to April 22. Everyone becomes more ecologically aware on this holy day of eco-freaks, but few carry it over into their daily lives. And the very corporations who are the biggest part of the problem use the occasion to disingenuously paint themselves green.

The way I see it, even with its flaws, anything that puts the environment on center stage and gets people around the world to pay attention, even if it’s only for a day, is a good thing. It’s certainly better than nothing. It’s always heartening for me personally when my kids bring home their Earth Day projects, and it’s even more encouraging that the environment has been a recurring theme in their curriculum throughout the year. If children are coming home from school talking about how global warming threatens polar bears, maybe parents will start to listen. Maybe that’s the seed that causes this year’s park cleanup to lead to a change in lifestyle. Maybe on the 23^rd, the Hummer gets swapped for a Prius , you rip up the Chemlawn contract, you stop buying gas from Exxon and tissues from Kleenex, and you install energy efficient lights in your home. This year, start living the line that every day is Earth Day. And do your part to take the catch out of April 22.

It’s official. Climate change has changed everything.

Sure, there’s the stuff you already know. More severe storms, melting polar ice caps, the projected year-round beach resort status of Nova Scotia. But what about the other stuff? Major League Baseball games are getting snowed out in April, the same year that January football games in New England could be attended in short sleeves. I played golf (at a goat field of a public course that doesn’t use pesticides because they can’t afford it) three times in January, and had my tee time this past Saturday cancelled due to frost.

Even politics is no longer predictable. Yesterday, Newt Gingrich and John Kerry were supposed to square off in a debate that was to resemble the 1984 World Wide Wrestling Federation title fight between Wahoo McDaniel and Ricky Steamboat. (McDaniel took the title when Tully Blanchard came to his aid with a steel chair). Instead of the projected smack down, Newt and John ended up all chummy when Gingrich unexpectedly stated that climate change is real, that "we should address it actively". To top it off, there was an unsettling moment where it appeared they might even hug.

One of the reasons why climate change is more recognized now than it was even two or three years ago is the emergence of so-called "poster children" for the issue. The polar bear has become the face of global warming, as its existence is now threatened by the melting ice caps at the North Pole. As evidence that the polar bear is raising the issue’s profile, more than 500,000 Americans recently urged the feds to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to the effect rising temperatures are having on their habitat. That’s almost double the previous record for public comments for an ESA listing in US history!

But its not just the charismatic megafauna that are at risk. According to the international organization Save the Children, 175 million children will be affected every year over the next decade by climate-related disasters like droughts, floods and storms.

Okay, you say. The plight of children and polar bears is alarming and tragic, and it makes me care that much more about the urgency to stop global warming.  But it isn't exactly surprising. Not like the giggle fest between Kerry and Gingrich anyway. THAT was surprising. Tell me something I don’t know.

Well, here’s an emerging casualty of climate change you might not have already considered: Business. Not exactly poster child material, but it makes Wall Street and wealthy political funders take notice.

According to a recent study, financial losses from weather-related catastrophes have risen an average of two percent each year since the ‘70s. Economists are viewing climate change more and more as a classic "market failure", with potential repercussions in the business sector that could be considered catastrophic in their own right.  Many agree that the single largest cause of that failure is corporations and governments don’t place a price on spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  The resulting costs, however, could be huge.

Up until now, climate change has been seen as the cause of lefty liberals who want to make the world safe for polar bears and kids. Now, its champions need to include sports fans, golfers, day traders, parents, CEO’s, property owners and political pundits who make their living stereotyping congress.

Did I leave anyone out?

I got a new snowboard for Christmas this year. Well, actually, I went out and bought myself one around mid-December, came home and told my wife she could take me off her list because I already had my present. Went over like mustard on peanut butter. Especially since, as it turned out, she’d already gotten me a bike.

So at the end of the day, I got a snowboard and bike for Christmas. Which is great, except that the present I got for myself was based on the silly assumption that there’d be snow at least somewhere on the East Coast. Even though I work on the issue of global warming every day, there’s still a part of me that’s in denial about the whole thing. I guess I just don’t want to admit that snow is a phenomenon that, in many parts of the world, appears to be on its way out.

The bike, however, has been put to good use since I found it perched by the tree Christmas morning. This past weekend it was 75 and sunny in our nation’s capital, in the middle of January. So instead of snowboarding, I went biking on Saturday and Sunday. Even got a bit of a tan to boot. But I felt guilty the whole time. Like I was peddling over polar bear carcasses or something. We might get a kick out of warm sunny days in the "dead of winter". But our furry friend to the north is facing the very real possibility of extinction as a result of the current trend.

And at Coca-Cola, that would be bad for marketing.

Speaking of which (polar bears, that is, not Coke), there might be hope for them yet, thanks to a lawsuit Greenpeace filed with two other organizations under the Endangered Species Act. Like a belated Christmas present to one of the season’s icons, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on December 27^th to designate polar bears as threatened, due to the fact that the Arctic sea ice they rely on as a hunting platform is melting at an unprecedented rate. Unless the Bush Administration has the gall to assert that the Arctic meltdown is not a result of climate change (okay, so he asserted the Iraq War was justified based on weapons of mass destruction), an ESA listing of the polar bear would force the U.S. government to address the link between manmade emissions of heat-trapping gases and the increase in Arctic temperatures.

Bottom line: warm winter days in traditionally cold climates are not as desirable as they might appear. Whereas it’s not entirely accurate to say "this 75 degree day in January has been brought to you by climate change", it is true that what we’re experiencing is part of the pattern we’ll continue to see as the world heats up. Weather like we had this past weekend is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. Might seem nice on the surface, but what’s behind it should scare you.

Especially if you own a ski slope. Or think in your next life that you might come back as a polar bear.

Scorpio. The eighth sign of the Zodiac. According to myth, our scorpion friend spent a lot of time trying to kill the great hunter Orion, and depending on which version you read either was or was not ultimately successful. Which seems odd, since the sky makes it appear that Orion is the one giving chase. Just as the scorpion disappears on the western horizon, Orion appears to the east.

Why am I telling you this?

Because almost every night for the past two weeks, after days spent looking for pirate fishermen, occupying longliners and planning our next steps, we've had a remarkable view of these constellations from the deck of the ship, a sky full of stars stretching across the vast Pacific Ocean on which we sail.

There's got to be a metaphor in there somewhere for our work in this region. The hunter and the hunted, maybe, as it relates to fish? I guess it'd be better if I was talking about Pisces, and supposedly autumn at the equator is the time and place to see this constellation.  But for the life of me I can't seem to find it. Who came up with these things, anyway? I can't see an image of two fish when I have the lines drawn out for me in a book entitled "Astonomy for Kids".  How am I supposed to see it in the sky? Anyone who looks up and says "Hey look! There's Pisces" is obviously bluffing or toying with you.

Scorpio and Orion, however, are much easier to see. I'll stick with constellations that pass the laugh test.

More on this later.

As for life onboard, things have come down a notch since our night on the longliner. The morning we returned to the Esperanza, our surveillance data showed roughly 40 fishing vessels in our vicinity, near the Gilbert Island Chain of Kiribati waters. The next day there were 12. The day after that, none. Like roaches scattering when you turn on the light. Guess word got around we were doing inspections. Think they had something to hide?

On Friday we came across a reefer (large ship that loads supplies and unloads cargo from fishing vessels), headed for Tarawa. Reefers provide a significant hurdle to stopping illegal fishing, as they allow boats to unload their catches on the open ocean.  This in turn provides the opportunity to catch fish without reporting it. One of our demands in this region is to end these so-called "transhipments" at sea.

After doing a bit of research, we discovered the reefer in question was Panamanian, which presented additional intrigue given the questionable status of the country in this region. It also had an expired license. Seemed to be more than enough to board the ship, inspect its operation and potentially arrest a vessel that represents a huge part of the problem. Game on.

Then word came from the Kiribati government that we were not to board it; that we were to allow it to proceed to port. Like walking up to the plate thinking you're gonna swing for the fences and getting the sign that you have to bunt. Once in port the ship was given a renewed license and allowed to proceed with offloading its cargo, no questions asked. I guess a reefer full of fish and the associated financial benefits to the fisheries agency were too much for them to pass up.

Dance with the devil and all that. At least I now have material for my next novel. Something along the lines of the Sopranos go Pacific Island. I think it'll sell.

Soon on the heels of this latest disappointment our patroling work in Kiribati came to an end. We departed the country's waters and set a northeast course towards Hawaii, the ship's next destination. Our arrival will mark the end of the Esperanza's time in the Western and Central Pacific, and will usher in the U.S leg of the Defending our Oceans tour.

Which leaves me to reflect on what's happened while we've been in this region as I stare at the stars. We didn't get the big iconic arrest of an illegal vessel we were looking for. And it still stings to think about what we might have found had the Dong Won 117 not made a break for the high seas.

But we've learned a lot during our time here. From the nature of illegal fishing and overfishing in this region to the enforcement challenges that face Pacific Island Countries who rely on fish for their economic survival. Our newfound knowledge should serve us well as we continue to work through regional forums such as the Tuna Commission to better manage fish resources in the Western and Central Pacific, work with island countries to realize their collective power in dealing with Distant Water Fishing Nations, and push them to manage their waters in a sustainable fashion so their countries can depend on fish for years to come.

These were but some of my thoughts as I sat on the deck last night and watched Scorpio disappear beyond the horizon, then turned to see Orion make his ascent on the other side of the sky. I'll spare you the attempt to turn these constellations into some wingnut stretch of a metaphor. Let's just say it helps put things in perspective and leave it at that.

Then again, our motorized inflatables, which are storied symbols of Greenpeace for our work in the oceans, are often referred to as Zodiacs.

Sunrise over the Pacific was beautiful this morning.  It was just a bit surreal seeing it from onboard a Korean longliner, where I'd spent a sleepless night making sure the Shin Yung 51 didn't make a run for it after we found possible fishing violations.  It was also an opportunity to witness and document their operation from a front row seat.

Yesterday afternoon we'd boarded the vessel as part of our ongoing enforcement efforts.  We found convincing evidence of tampering with the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), which led to an order from the Kiribati government for the boat to remain where it was until they could further investigate.  Kiribati did allow the ship to set its lines, which actually worked to our advantage as fishing through the night would make it more difficult for them to pull a runner and head for the high seas.  It also gave us a rare opportunity in our enforcement capacity to spend a night on a longliner and document the operation as they hauled their lines and landed their catch.

It's more than a bit intimidating to be on a ship where very little English is spoken, where they aren't exactly happy to see you and their ultimate intentions aren't known.  My question was, how much of a barrier did our presence provide if they wanted to make a break for it, as Kiribati's fisheries enforcement agency is far from strong and they have very little resources available to them.  We were pretty much counting on the humanity of Shin Yung's captain and crew to conclude that a valuable fish stock wouldn't be worth throwing overboard their undesirable guests.
 
They started hauling lines around 8:00 pm.  The fishing was a bit slow at the start, but soon they had a run on tuna, mostly Yellowfin.  The fish ranged in size between 40 - 100 pounds, and the process from line to onboard freezer was efficient and brutal.  I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that fish at the market counter will never look the same.  By the time the sun came up and they completed their haul, they had taken in over 2000 pounds of fish.  Our photographer and videographer got some excellent footage, with powerful images of bycatch that included sharks and a turtle snared in their lines.  The Shin Yung finished hauling its lines around 7:00 am, and an inflable was sent from the Esperanza with a replacement party for those of us who'd stayed onboard.

In the end, the Kiribati government didn't take action, so we were once again left without the arrest we're looking for to define illegal fishing in the Pacific.  But more and more we're finding that, with the boats we're inspecting, the amount of fish onboard and time at sea don't add up, which points to undocumented offloading and unreported fish.

What we seem to be finding is that pirate fishing in this region isn't like what Greenpeace found off the coast of Africa last spring, where the vessels were clearly illegal, inhumane and barely seaworthy.  Illegal operations here are more under the surface, and one has to dig a bit to find them.  Comparing it to illegal fishing in Africa is a bit like comparing gang looting to white-collar crime.  In many ways that makes the problem here harder to address, yet it's no less destructive of a practice.  It's estimated that up to $400 million in fish is taken illegally from the Pacific each year, and until that's thwarted the effort to stop overfishing in this region will be almost impossible.