Sarah's Corner

Sarah:  Farley Mowat

THE FARLEY MOWAT VESSEL
THE FARLEY MOWAT VESSEL

On January 10, 2016 we got to see the Farley Mowat, an old coast guard boat, bought by an organization by the name of Sea Shepherd.  There was a very large gathering of people that were interested.When we finally got aboard the Farley Mowat  they took us up into the boat and showed us around. We got to see how things worked, and what type of supplies that they used.

The boat was repurposed and launched in 2015. The boat is a 110ft vessel currently used for the purpose of saving the Vaquita dolphin, a species that only has 100 of its kind left. The Farley Mowat also stops illegal whaling, and helps other types of Dolphins.

The Vaquita dolphin is a solitary animal, that doesn’t have a beak like many Dolphins and lives in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. It is one of, if not the most endangered species in the world.

THE ENDANGERED VAQUITA DOLPHIN
THE ENDANGERED VAQUITA DOLPHIN

HOW THE FARLEY MOWAT  HELPS: OPERATION MILAGRO II

Operation Milagro II is an operation that helps the Vaquita Dolphins. But while they are doing operation Milagro II they also help other whales and dolphins. There is a protected reserve in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez where the Vaquita live. The Farley Mowat is headed there now. Recently the Mexican President came to give law enforcement small patrol boats to help the Sea Shepherd organization protect the reserve. Once they get to the reserve they find and pull up illegal nets that the Dolphins can get stuck in and suffocate. The nets are put there by pangas, smallish fishing vessels, that go up there to fish.

PANGA
PANGA

Sea Shepherd organization also travels to Japan to help prevent the Taiji Bay dolphin massacre, where the locals trap pods of dolphins in  a small cove,  pick the prettiest one to sell to Sea World, and kill the rest of the pod. The Farley Mowat lures the Dolphins away from  getting trapped by playing dolphin’s sonar recordings in the water to make sure that they get away safely.

Recently, the sailing vessel,belonging to the Sea Shepherd had a sighting of a Vaquita dolphin, which gives everyone proof that the Vaquita are still alive. The Sea Shepherd is a wonderful non-profit organization that inspires me, and I hope that it inspires you too.