Posted by jessmil on 07/25/2006 2:47 pm

The following posting is from Adam, who is onboard in the Bering Sea...

 
Finally, a clear blue sunny day. It’s been a while and it’s great to be able to see into the distance and feel the sun on our faces.

Last night we got back to Gambell with the two Yup’ik hunters Mike and Clarence that had taken us south of the island to look for whales. When you are with the Yup’ik you are confronted with how far out of touch with nature we from the cities have become. You can see that they are fully connected. They know every bird and animal’s habits. They notice if any animal is not doing what it normally does, if it’s a bit early or late or it’s numbers are different. They notice the wind is different and that the noise of humankind is growing closer and the animals further away. Most of all they know it is warming up, and they are really worried about it. They know exactly what is going on in their world.

About 10pm we got back to Gambell to drop the men off but the wind and the swell had come up, so people on the island were unable to launch a boat to come and pick them up. It was also to rough for us to launch the RIB so we had to motor around the headland to find a lee where we could launch and get the guys home. It all went well until we got trapped in the rocks with the RIB and managed to dent the prop. It was a slow vibrating trip back out to the ship followed by a prop swapping session in which I managed to bash my hand quite hard. Only a flesh wound though so no worries ?.

We left about 11 to do the 40 or so miles to Savoonga arriving there at 3am. We dropped anchor in 6 fathoms about half a mile west of the village and hit our bunks for a wee bit of shuteye. I awoke to the smell of huevos rancheros and coffee, mmmmmm. Can’t speak highly enough of James’ creativity in the galley. Then it was into Savoonga and meetings with the locals to hear their concerns and hopefully join forces to fight the onslaught of factory fishing. Like one guy said to me, it’s like a nightmare. A nightmare that you know is on its way to your home.

Stop the ocean destroyers!

Adam