21/07/2022
On July 1, 2007, at 08:15am, a deckhand on the M/Y Farley Mowat spotted a suspicious motorboat from the ship's crow's nest. 🤔
Captain Alex Cornelissen immediately suspected poaching activities and commenced a thorough search of the surrounding area. All hands were called on deck when a series of buoys were sighted with a longline carrying none of the required bird-scaring devices, set to target yellow-fin tuna. 😨
Learning the line was illegal and in violation of the rules and regulations of the Galapagos National Park, the crew began retrieving the line at 08:30am, soon discovering four additional lines set nearby.
As they worked to pull them safely onboard, a Sea Shepherd zodiac was deployed to gather evidence on the poaching vessel which continued to illegally set monofilament. When the poachers realized that they'd been caught red-handed, they threw their equipment overboard, eager to destroy evidence, which was later confiscated and turned over to the local authorities along with the video footage.
After five hours, 30 nautical miles of illegal longlines were safely confiscated from the protected waters and brought onboard the Farley Mowat, including 270 baited hooks. Although 15 yellow-finned tuna were found dead on the line, our crew were able to set free two yellow-finned tuna, one sting ray, and a five-foot manta ray, which all were last seen swimming off in the distance, given a second chance at life by Sea Shepherd volunteers dedicated to protecting this UNESCO World Heritage Site. ✊🎉🐟
