I travelled to South Africa about the same time last year with a plan (long in the making and negotiating) to travel on board a longline fishing boat 160 miles out to where the eastern Atlantic waters merge with the Indian Ocean. The aim was to get to the heart of the Troubled Waters story and witness the collision between seabirds and fishermen on the open ocean.
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But, for a variety of complex reasons (generator failure, accreditation certificate held-up, etc) the initial plan failed. Then, with thanks to the Birdlife office in South Africa, a trip on board a trawler from Cape Town was hastily arranged. It proved to be as dramatic and as important as anything I had anticipated and researched. The longline element was so important to the seabird and albatross story, there had to be another attempt to join the boat. So, with slightly different plan I went to South Africa in mid-October 2011. This time everything fell into place and I had an extraordinary and creative adventure. That story is currently being written and the illustrative material prepared and in due course some will be published and shown here - but most of the material is now focused on the book and exhibition launch in London in November 2012.
(Top) Preparing the snap lines and hooks on a logliner. (Below) Tori lines deployed to keep birds away from the trawl cables and fishing gear (Right above) Bycatch of Cape gannet on a South African demersal trawler. (Right below) Unloading the catch at the quayside in Richards Bay, South Africa |
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The first stage of processing a swordfish - cut off its head!
Shy albatross and white-chinned petrel scrabbling for offal thrown overboard.
White-chinned petrels scavenging offal around the vessel.
At sea surrounded by petrels.
Activity on deck through the day