Another New Zealand
summer is coming to a close and Nexus (das Boot) is impatiently tugging
on it’s mooring lines. Last years passage to Raoul and Tonga, even
though not blessed with fair winds, was a success in two ways. Firstly
it resulted in the image that won me the NZ Geographic Wildlife
Photographer of the year title:
And secondly it proved
that the good ship Nexus has morphed from a hybrid into a zero carbon
mode of transport. In other words, the bigger sails and the wind-vane
worked well. This is just as well, because I have experienced another
sizable consciousness shift towards serious environmentalism.
Unfortunately Sea Shepherd could not come up with a use for Nexus at
this time after repeatedly offering it to them. So I will just have to
sail around and write my own exposés to shake you all out of your
in-activist states. I guess it might help to win a few comps to keep the
profile up and make people listen a little.
The Tonga stay was less
successful inasmuch as it did not produce any great whale imagery and
kind of put the last nail in the coffin of the idea that
whale-watching-swimming is eco friendly. It is harassment of animals for
profit. There is only one eco tourism and that is staying at home.
Fortunately my home is a floating one, that can be moved from place to
place. I will shift my home to Raul again soon. The marine reserve there
must be one of the best places in the world to photograph sharks which
is exactly what I intend to do and write about. As the stock picture
industry is becoming less feasible every year, I shall go back to my
roots and write.
From Raoul it’s up to
Fiji once again, maybe on to Vanuatu …
Enough about me, I
suggest you spend a bit of time now and look at: