Page 28 - Vegan Life - Issue 59 (February 2020)

A whale encounter

Lex Rigby shares her experiences working to save
whales with Sea Shepherd

t was January 2006 and I was working not really sure where my passion to ‘save of cash for Sea Shepherd’s next mission,
as a library assistant at The College the whales’ came from. Much of what Operation Musashi.
Iof Law in York, when I read about a I know about whales I learnt from
northern bottlenose whale trapped in David Attenborough’s documentaries, Direct action crew
the River Thames. Not a whale in its most but everything I know about the anti- Throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011,
recognisable form, but instead, a beaked whaling movement I learnt from Captain I spent most of my free time hosting
whale — a mysterious group of deep- Paul Watson. Sea Shepherd stalls at vegan fairs,
divers that are rarely seen in open water, I remember reading a few articles, music festivals and dive shows. During
never mind on the banks of the Thames! years ago, about the 1979 sinking of the this time, I developed a love of diving
The young female may have been pirate whaling vessel, Sierra, and the 1986 and life underwater, which led me to
trying to find a shortcut to deeper Atlantic sabotage of Iceland’s Hvalur 6 and Hvalur Mozambique, where I volunteered
waters, but others flippantly suggested 7. “Our organisation [sic] has the full right on a Marine Megafauna Foundation
she was simply on a weekend visit to see to sink the whalers, because Iceland is (marinemegafaunafoundation.org) whale
the sights and catch a few shows. Either violating the moratorium,” said Captain shark project. This was when I saw my
way, she was where she should never have Watson. Damn straight, I thought. The first humpback whale breach the ocean
been and, ultimately, her death changed actions of Rod Coronado and David Howitt surface; she captivated me.
the course of my life. in Iceland essentially shut down the entire On arrival back in the UK I found
There’s just something about whales, country’s whaling operations for the next out the Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin,
and the heart-warming reaction of the 16 years. I was impressed. would be making a stop in London on
British public to ‘the London whale’ ignited Despite having been operating for her way back from the 2011 Faroe
something inside me. Whales have been almost 30 years by 2006, Sea Shepherd Islands campaign. Sea Shepherd UK
persecuted for centuries, with industrial (seashepherd.org) was still relatively were now a much better-organised
whaling decimating populations that are unknown in the UK. There was one group and volunteers from around the
still struggling to recover to this day. It’s a coordinator and less than a handful of country flocked to help carry out ship
history we are a part of, dating back to 1576, volunteers, but with two Southern Ocean tours and fundraise.
when a British vessel sailed to the coast of whale defence campaigns now under I met the crew and listened intently
Labrador to hunt whales in the Biscay Bay. their belt, they were on the precipice of to their stories of adventure. For me, it
In 1986, a moratorium on commercial international mainstream recognition was the real life Whale Wars and I was
whaling came into force. Its intention was — with several documentaries and a hit TV hooked. I took a week of work, headed
to protect our great whales, by allowing show called Whale Wars on the horizon. to Southampton to help with repairs and
their ‘stocks to recover’, and was the It took me until 2008 to get myself begged the crewing coordinator for a spot
culmination of two decades’ worth of anti- organised enough to host a screening of on board. He asked how quickly I could
whaling campaigning. Yet more than 30 Rob Stewart’s Sharkwater and convince be in Australia.
years later, they’re still being hunted. Giles Lane, one of two activists that Five weeks later I boarded a flight
jumped on board a Japanese harpoon to Sydney, having secured a five-month
Sea Shepherd ship during Sea Shepherd’s 2007/2008 work sabbatical, and stepped on-board
I’m from a small town in the Stafordshire whale defence campaign, to come and talk the Bob Barker (another ship in the Sea
Moorlands, a place more famous for its about his experiences. My friends came Shepherd fleet) for the very first time on
rd
pottery than its whale-watching, so I’m out in full support and we raised a nice pile 3 November 2011. ›

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