Our activists have just attempted to halt two UK dolphin-killing pair trawlers - the Ocean Dawn and the Sunrise - from fishing by attaching large buoys to their net.
Pair trawlers are responsible for the deaths of thousands of dolphins in the Channel every year. The dolphins are caught and drowned in the huge net dragged between two vessels.
Today's engagement between Greenpeace volunteers and the trawlers happened soon after 9am, about 32 miles south-west of Plymouth. Yesterday we took action to stop the French vessels, Sonia Jerome and Cote d'Amour, fishing after finding a dead dolphin in the Channel which bore all the telltale signs of having been caught and killed in a large fishing net. In the last few days Greenpeace has successfully stopped UK pair trawlers from fishing on two occasions.
For breaking news direct from the crew, visit our ship's weblog site.
Last year, government observers found that just one pair of UK trawlers killed over 150 dolphins. The UK fleet alone is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of 439 dolphins last fishing season. The UK and French fleets combined could be killing over 2,000 dolphins a year.
Ben Bradshaw, the Fisheries Minister, has consistently failed to take the necessary measures to protect dolphins around the UK.
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sarah Duthie onboard the Esperanza, said: "We will attempt to stop as many pair trawlers as possible. This destructive form of fishing is killing thousands of dolphins every year.
"Bradshaw hasn't done anything to save dolphins from these huge nets, so at the moment it's up to us to stop these trawlers from driving them to extinction."
The Esperanza left Falmouth on the 17 February to campaign for a ban on pair trawling for sea bass in the Channel. An independent team of researchers from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) is onboard to further assess the conservation and welfare threats to whale, dolphin and porpoise populations.
