While I could complain about my sporadic access to hot water this week or the lack of power on my block for twelve hours this weekend, we all know there are more pressing concerns in the world. This week the country's oil issues hit close to home when a 810-foot-long container ship hit the Bay Bridge releasing 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay.
The area has been blanketed in a thick fog for a couple of weeks but this is typical weather here at 8:30 in the morning. No other ships in recent history have rammed into the bridge and investigations into the incident are ongoing. The Coast Guard is blaming the ship's pilot; the pilot is saying that the Guard gave him the okay. We'll probably be hearing about the case for months while it will take volunteers even longer to clean up the area.
The oil spill has already impacted the Bay Area. A triathlon on Treasure Island today became a biathlon as the swimming portion was canceled. The start of the crab season has been delayed and sport fishing has been closed.
During my sojourn home, I read an interesting article in the New Yorker on Paul Watson who is the man behind the Sea Shepherd Conversation Society.
Raffi Khatchadourian paints Watson as a controversial environmentalist whose extreme tactics are not supported by other major environmental agencies. (Watson was kicked out of Greenpeace.) He and his crew of mostly unpaid volunteers seek out fishing ships in the world's oceans and impair the ships to prevent them from continuing to hunt and fish. This tactic also puts his crews in danger. In seeking out a Japanese whaling fleet, Watson's ailing ship the Farley Mowat set out "to end its days at sea as a battering ram in the service of marine life."
Depending on the interpretation of laws applied to the oceans, specifically the U.N. World Charter for Nature, Watson's activities are illegal.
No country regards ramming, disabling, or scuttling ships to be legal activities, and, except on rare occasions, even naval ships cannot lawfully interfere with foreign vessels on the high seas.
This has caused Watson's ships to be stripped of their flags by countries who did not support his actions. When the Farley lost its flag in Australia, Watson ran a Sea Shepard flag up the line and told his crew that they were "on a pirate ship."
While Watson is fighting the good fight and his concerns about illegal fishing of endangered oceanic animals is admiral, the actions he takes are questionable. Read Khatchadourian's full article online at newyorker.com.
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