Ready for the No Compromise Battle

Bárbara Veiga
Photographer, Steve Irwin

Onboard the Gojira and the Steve Irwin

This is my second Antarctic campaign with Sea Shepherd and I felt very privileged to begin my second term by photographing from the new trimaran, the Gojira during the crossing from Fremantle to Hobart. It was good to see the crew’s motivation after so much work to prepare the boat for the campaign. I spent two weeks in Fremantle following the progress of the Gojira and appreciating the hard-working crew who often finished their work very late at night, only taking breaks for their meals. And this dedication is entirely for the whales, nothing else, how incredible is that? I find that type of commitment really inspiring and I feel that I am in the right place because I can make a difference with my work by educating people through my photos and articles which are about the environmental issues that we face everyday.

After the five-day-crossing, everybody on the Gojira was really excited about arriving to Hobart, where the Sea Shepherd fleet all met for the first time. I was impressed with the incredible performance of this boat at sea. The entire crew is extremely professional and really passionate about the ocean. Upon arriving in Hobart, I spent my last day on board the Gojira, and moved to the Steve Irwin, where I photograph for the next few months during the Operation No Compromise campaign. While there are some familiar faces from the previous campaign, there are new ones as well who will eventually become my friends.

During our travels, we were followed by Royal Albatrosses and several petrel birds. We even saw some whales but we could not identify the exact species. It`s great to see them surrounding us, but at the same time I hope that they can stay safe and far away from the whalers. I am very optimistic about the success of this campaign. I really hope that with three vessels this year, Sea Shepherd can save the maximum number of whales with their tactics against the whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.