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Pichilemu Whale Mural
Date: 18-08-2008
While the S4C crew were in Pichilemu, we saw the humble beginnings of a project to transform a boring bit of concrete retainer wall into a fantastic larger than life mural of a whale. The project was organised by Rodrigo Farias and local artist Tuki with the help of S4C and Good Nature.
Rodrigo and Tuki used the mural as a catalyst for creating some groundswell towards promoting the whale icon project, holding a poll for naming the whale and awarding a prize to the winner through
http://www.surfestival.cl
The mural is now complete and the name that won was ANAY, what means friend in
Mapudungun, which is the native language of Chile.
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Endangered Wave: Santos del Mar, Chile
Date: 11-07-2008
Surfers for Cetaceans, Save The Waves Coalition, Dave Rastovich and Ramon Navarro team up to protect an endangered surfing area and its ecosystem.
Southern Chile's newest big wave surf site, Santos del Mar, and its surrounding coastline would be polluted if plans go ahead to construct a proposed US$1.3 billion dollar coal-fired power plant on the coastline of Chile’s 7th Region.
Ramon Navarro, Chilean big wave hunter and the pioneer surfer at Santos del Mar, is particularly inspired to fight the project: "This is the biggest and most powerful wave that we've ever found in Chile and the area holds numerous other surfing resources that must be protected. Mega-industry will put it at risk with this polluting coal plant, and we must stop it."
Proposed by international energy giant AES GENER (www.aes.com), development of the "Los Robles Power Plant" would include the construction of a 750-megawatt coal-burning facility and industrial port on the beach near Santos del Mar. Pulverized coal shipments from Australia would be unloaded there, damaging the ecosystem and polluting the ocean with ashes, air pollution and toxic wastewater.
Local surfers and residents are concerned about the environmental degradation that would be caused by burning coal at the facility. Arsenic and lead poisoning of adjacent marine waters and agricultural lands are common from coal burning power plants, and the region surrounding Santos del Mar is remote and rural with plentiful fishing grounds and small-scale agriculture. Furthermore, the proposed cooling towers for the electrical generator would use marine waters via an industrial intake mechanism that is responsible for killing millions of fish and marine mammals per year in similar facilities worldwide.
Dave Rastovich, co-founder of Surfers for Cetaceans and professional free surfer, spoke out in opposition to the project while he was surfing in the region in late June: "I was surfing an epic beach break in front of the proposed site for the coal plant, and it's full of marine life. In my travels throughout all of Chile I've seen very few dolphins, but at this spot I surfed with numerous dolphins as well as seals, penguins, birds, and fish. The company's environmental report claims that there is no marine life in the region that will be adversely affected by their coal plant, but that's a false claim that ignores the problem.
Save The Waves' program director in Chile, Josh Berry, rebuts the industry's claim that energy is desperately needed to supply the nation at any cost: "The energy industry in Chile wants infinite growth of their sector, mostly to feed the future projected needs of the copper mining industry in northern Chile. However, it's based on an outdated model of massive consumption and zero conservation. What about alternative clean energies such as wind, solar, and wave power? The region is perfect for the development of these technologies, but this coal plant is a step backwards for the region." Alternative energy company Finavera Renewables (www.finavera.com) recently found Chile to be the #1 most promising wave power energy market out of 80 coastal nations studied.
The majority of local citizens are opposed to the project, and Save The Waves Coalition and Surfers for Cetaceans are working closely with FIMA, a group of Chilean environmental lawyers, to organize legal opposition to the project and protect Santos del Mar and its surroundings.
More information about the wave at Santos del Mar, the proposed coal
plant and opposition can be read at Josh's blog: http://greensurfing.blogspot.com
Also visit the Spanish language local opposition website, with up-to-date
details and photos of the project and solutions at: http://www.losrobles-no.cl
Contact for more information:
Josh Berry
Save The Waves Coalition
josh@savethewaves.org
www.savethewaves.org
Chile Tel: +56 98295 4870
Andy Sibley
Surfers for Cetaceans
andy@surfersforcetaceans.com
www.surfersforcetaceans.com
Australia Tel: +61 (0)423 452050
FIMA – Fiscalía del Medio Ambiente
fernanda@fima.cl
www.fima.cl
Chile Tel: +56 2421 7468
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IWC WIPES OUT IN CHILE
Date: 28-06-2008
Once again, we have decided to publicize the words of another NGO to bring you more information on how the IWC developed this week... these words from Captain Paul Watson of the SeaShepherd:
Report on the 60th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission
By Captain Paul Watson
It has been a very strange week at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago where 72 of the 81 nation members of the International Whaling Commission have been meeting all week to essentially not resolve anything at all.
The amount of carbon expended on airfares alone without any results to show for it is a crime in itself.
Japan has had the IWC in a stranglehold for two decades as this criminal whaling nation continues to violate IWC regulations, continues to bribe nations to support their positions and continues to pontificate on their eco-imperialist campaign to slaughter the world’s whales in complete disregard for the concerns of the civilized world.
Outside the hotel young Chileans demonstrate, lock themselves to the hotel door and are routinely arrested while most of the delegates are completely oblivious to their actions. The IWC delegates seem to exist in a fantasy world of their own creation where they are bending over backwards to be polite to each other as Japan manipulates the agenda so that nothing can, or is being done at all to end their high seas serial killing spree against the Cetacean Nations. They talk using the maximum number of words to essentially say nothing at all.
The IWC is not even voting on anything this year. Japan reasons that if there are no votes than they won’t have to return to Japan having lost any of the resolutions. So the delegates decided to an informal agreement to not vote on any controversial issues and to avoid any confrontations. It’s a strange way to resolve conflicts and an even stranger way to enforce the regulations of the IWC. Not one of these losers wants to appear to be a loser. They would rather that the whales lose their lives to the outlaw harpoons. So for the first time the annual verbal slug fest became a love fest with everyone pretending to respect each other’s positions or as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently said to Japan’s Prime Minister Fukuda, “we have agreed to disagree.”
Denmark however decided to force a vote on their proposal to slaughter more endangered Humpbacks in Greenland in addition to the whales they already kill, despite the European Community’s adamant (and except for Denmark,) unanimous decision to stand strong for the whales. Denmark’s proposal was quickly shot down with evidence that their so-called indigenous slaughter of whales is in fact a commercial operation. The Danes with less political savvy than the Japanese were defeated 36 to 29 although the USA voted for the deaths of the Humpbacks probably in deference to the desires of the Makah Indians of Washington State to resume the murder of the whales.
What sums up the hypocrisy and the ineffectiveness of the IWC for me is that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is the only organization that upholds the regulations of the IWC and we are the only organization that is banned from attending the IWC yet Japan, Norway and Iceland blatantly violate the rulings with contempt yet are never admonished for doing so and are allowed to perpetuate their whaling crimes year after year in the name of their bogus research. The real research that Japan is undertaking is to determine the limits of Japanese bullshit that the other member nations can swallow.
The only real voice for the whales is coming, as usual, from individuals and small organizations. Skye Bortoli with Teens Against Whaling although only 15 years old has had security agents stalking her every move. Hannah a professional mermaid baffled the security when she attended a media conference wearing her tail. They detailed extra men to surround the swimming pool to ensure she did not get close enough to dive in. Apparently the image of a mermaid protesting the killing of whales from the middle of the pool had spooked the Japanese. It was probably for the best for Hannah, she may have been harpooned. The Japanese seem to be possessed with killing any intelligent aquatic citizen with a tail fluke.
At high noon on the last day of the conference, four Chilean protestors jumped out of a cab and stormed the door of the hotel bringing their very vocal protests directly to the lobby of the Sheraton for the first time. The Chilean police quickly removed them and hauled them off in handcuffs. What a difference it would make if even a small fraction of the passion that we see on the outside of the hotel could be brought inside the doors to challenge the Japanese killers on the floor.
The Chileans have displayed a strong show of support for the whales ranging from in the street protests to the declaration by President Michelle Bachelet of the establishment of the Chilean Whale Sanctuary to protect all whales in the Chilean Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ).
The Chilean surfing community has been very high profile in their support for the whales and Chile’s top surfer Ramon Navarro attended the demonstrations for the whales and voiced his strong support for the actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Dave Rastovich had come from Australia to rally the Chilean surfing community and has taken the leading rope in recruiting surfers to the defense of the dolphins and the whales.
Howie Cooke also came from Australia as an artist opposed to whaling, and Kylie Heard from Sea Shepherd Australia flew at her own cost to Santiago to deliver 5,000 photos for the visual petition. In total some 15,000 photos were emblazoned on the banners of the visual petition.
Japan once again called for the condemnation of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for our interventions against their illegal whaling operations. Brazil, the USA, the Netherlands, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia responded with statements that did not say much at all except that they were opposed to “violence and unlawful acts” at sea.
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IWC - Day 4
Date: 27-06-2008
In the hope of presenting an informative, rounded and accurate account from the IWC meeting, we're printing a statement made by a fellow NGO, Whales Alive:
Day 4
Unfortunately more of the rhetoric today that has plagued this commission.
The day started with a private commissioners meeting to trying to obtain consensus on the request from Denmark/Greenland for 10 Humpbacks under their Aboriginal whaling quota. Agreement was not obtained and it was clear that Denmark did not have the numbers for a vote.
This resulted in Denmark starting a heated discussion about all the things that are wrong with the IWC.
The issue was further inflamed by the EU (speaking through Slovenia) working as a block against this proposal.
The whaling countries (and their puppet friends) lined up to air their grievances.
The rhetoric went on for almost two hours...
Some examples:
"This has put a dark cloud over the IWC reform process'
'I never seen such lack of respect for the advice of the Scientific
Committee in my 18 years at IWC meetings'
The main objections for this proposal were that the advice from the scientific committee was only given as interim advice and that there are serious question over the 'subsistence' needs of the Greenland hunt, with proof emerging that whale meat is openly sold in Greenland. So Denmark had no choice but to put it to a vote, being a schedule amendment it required a ¾ majority.
The vote was taken. It failed 36 NO, 29 YES, and 2 abstentions. Australia voting no, USA voting yes.
This item was just what the Chair DID not want to happen at this meeting and it highlighted how tough reform is going to be !!
Other items today were:
South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary
Brazil and Argentina introduced this Sanctuary proposal (as in previous years)
Brazil showed a video presentation that started by saying that: "For years the IWC has listened to coastal communities saying why they need to kill whales, well here we have a presentation of coastal communities saying why we need to save whales!" As per the arrangement at the beginning of the meeting the Latin countries had agreed not to call for a vote on this proposal But in announcing that Brazil said: "There should be no doubt to Brazil's commitment to this sanctuary proposal and will be bringing it back to next years IWC meeting."
Interesting that Norway is acknowledging sanctuaries at all – for years they have said there was no scientific justification for whale sanctuaries
This is something for Australians to consider when bringing back the South pacific whale sanctuary (which hopefully will be soon)
Garrett spoke on Australia's commitment to whale sanctuaries. That it was a 21st century approach to whale conservation.
Conservation committee
Garrett presented Australia's proposal for a new Conservation management
plan for the IWC. If you have not seen this I recommend you read it (its on the
environment.gov.au website )
>view conservation management plan online
It is one of the only works of substance being put forward to reform the IWC into a conservation organisation. This was presented today and will now be worked through at the IWC reform working group later in the year.
Other items discussed today included Austria questioning the USA over the Makah Indian take of a Gray whale and why it was not reported as an infraction. Response was that it was part of the Aboriginal whaling quota and therefore was not an infraction??
The Climate change workshop has received more financial support (other than the 10K pledged by Australia) and therefore looks like it will go ahead WWF and WDCS amongst the contributors.
The day was a mixed one but I couldn't help feel the unwillingness for the whaling countries to change their rhetoric in this commission.
Surfers for Cetaceans, Skye Bortoli and Sea Shepherd hosted a press conference on the grounds of the Sheraton Hotel at lunchtime. Dave Rastovich and Howie Cooke from Surfers for Cetaceans spoke of the road trip they undertook along the Chilean coastline before the IWC meeting. Meeting with local coastal communities where they were recruiting interest in the Humpback Icon project that they had help establish in Australia (in partnership with IFAW and the Oceania Project) where local communities adopt a Humpback whale.
They also presented examples of their visual petition were over 12,000 people have signed on to the visual petition website with a picture of themselves – demanding protection for whales and dolphins.
Skye Bortoli from Teens Against Whaling presented a letter to the Commissioner from Portugal and Minster Garrett requesting permission to speak to the IWC meeting in Madeira, Portugal next year. The Portuguese commissioner in receiving the letter told Skye that he worked on his first environmental campaign as an 18 year old!!
The meeting concludes tomorrow with mostly administrative issues.
The representation from Australia has been huge, with a big government delegation and many NGO's.
This meeting has reinforced my view that we need to do much more work outside this commission.
Japan's scientific whaling continues !
Adios
Ciao
Mick
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IWC Monday
Date: 23-06-2008
International Whaling Commission 2008
So we've arrived in Santiago for the International Whaling Commission. The conference has been under way for about a month but this week is the time that all the Delegates, NGO's, and media are together at the land locked Santiago Sheraton. It's quite bizarre really, some two and 1/2 hours from the ocean is this meeting of the minds that control the fate of whales and dolphins of the world, or maybe not. I say this because much of the work they do is totally irrelevant to what is actually going on in the ocean. The chairman is from Texas. Do they have whales there??? No, but they have George W Bush, enough said...
A protest got under way outside the hotel yesterday led by an extremely vocal group of Chilean activists who were not to be denied. First came Peter Garrett, the Australian Environmental Minster(and lead singer of Midnight Oil), then the rest of the pro whale nations followed, filing out to view the circus. After they had spun some words to make it seem as if something good was happening, they returned to the conference hall. Once all the media attention had died down the Chilean Government Soldiers moved in to break it up and arrested a few people. There is a big military presence around, as if to say don't mess with us. SO WHAT, the passion of the protestors was inspiring, together as one voice they sent a clear message, STOP WHALING NOW! This is a big juxtaposition to the IWC who in sixty years as an organization has pushed around a ton of paper, not agreed on much and thrown a good cocktail party or two. It's about as impressive to whales as swimming through a car crushing yard(this line written with help fro Howie Cooke).
As we witness all this it's hard not to be frustrated. The bureaucratic BS is knee deep with no signs of slowing. The one positive is that Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society arrived yesterday. Our group is buoyed by his presence. Neptune's Navy has arrived and it puts the whaling nations and hotel security on notice. YEAHHHHH...
Justin Krumb
Filmmaker
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Santiago Day 3 - Human Whale Event
Date: 22-06-2008
Today is the day!! The Human Whale Event, organised by John Quigley and Jeff Pantukhoff is held at Parque O'Higgins in central Santiago is a huge success! With over 2000 people attending the event, everyone is really motivated and people have come from hundreds of kilometres around Chile to attend. Local actress Leaonor Varela and Ana Lya Uriarte, Chile’s Enivornmental Minister host the event with Rasta, Hannah Mermaid and Skype Bortolli from Teens against Whaling all speaking onstage. With the help of the translation there were many cheers from the sea of Chilean people.
The media were in full force, the local news got television footage of Hannah and Skye speaking about the IWC and other pressing whaling issues. Channel Nine of Australia were also in attendance, and aired a special on the event back in Oz.
Howie and the S4C crew help to erect his homemade art piece: a 14 foot high free standing Teepee, forming base camp for the visual petition and local television interviews. It was a beautiful sight set amongst the Andes and was a centrepiece to the human whale project.
The event attracted over 2000 Chilean locals as well as passionate international activists. This human whale project was an even bigger successor to the Bondi Save the Whales Again Human Whale Project, as this time the Minkie whale was brought to the stage and attracted the attention of the entire world. The aerial photographs from the helicopter were amazing... giving us pole position on the front page of the National Chilean paper in Santiago.
The day soon turned to disaster when we discovered that someone had stolen the petition banners. Somehow in all the excitement, we failed to notice that a small man with a leather jacket and handlebar moustache simply walked up to the stage and started taking down the banners totalling 16m in length. By the time everyone had left, we were all pretty stressed and managed to find out very little about what had happened apart from the fact that the man had rolled the banners up and walked off with them.
After several stressful hours, we get a phone call from Jeff’s team, telling us a crazy story of how the man was spotted several kilometres away from the park happily strolling along with our banners over his shoulder. When the man was questioned he sounded fairly drunk and said he had been minding the banners for us and happily returned them without any fuss. How true this story is remains the question of great speculation but we were just stoked to have the banners returned and up in time for the evening event. It was a heavy reminder that we needed to be onto it at all times even when travel fatigue was starting to set in.
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Santiago Night 3- The Gala VIP Event at Castillo Hidalgo
Date: 22-06-2008
After a day of epic highs and lows, the entire S4C crew then got glammed up to attend the gala event put on by Jeff Pantukhoff at Castillo Hidalgo, an historical castle in the middle of Santiago that was said to have been burnt down no less than 6 times by unhappy local indigenous tribes.
We arrive to an amazing venue looking hot as ever... and with some serious chang dang in tow! (can you tell Booty Spanking Paula is writing this?) We were definitely “so hot right now” and made quite the entrance to the event. ;) The 3 short film clips/presentations were incredibly touching, as one VP winner remarked, she “had tingles, and lots of tears seeing all of the footage, in that she just knew that she had made a difference with what she had actually accomplished and felt she was a part of something so much bigger than herself.
Peter Garret was there with several other high ranking delegates attending the IWC, along with Leanor and some local musical and television celebrities. It was a great night and everyone, exhausted from the days events came home fairly early (by Chilean standards) and jammed until the early hours of the morning.
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Santiago Day 1 and 2
Date: 20-06-2008
After a beautiful if uneventful drive back to Santiago, we rock up to our hostel on dusk, just in time to say g’bye to Dane Ward and Matt Wybenga who set off back to California. The atmosphere around the airport is intense with media vans drenched in satellite dishes surrounding every arrival bay.
The mood back at the Luz Azul hostel is electric.. the crew is back together again and the first of the competition winners have arrived. Kevin Muir from the US, Ines Schlingensiepen from Portugal and Ahmed Perez from Venezuela, all regional winners from the visual petition competition are happy to see us but look a little daunted by what they’ve been thrown into...
The next day is a day of rest while we organise and synchronize our diaries and plan our strategies for the upcoming days. Our hostel is in a part of Santiago known as ‘Old Brazil’ complete with gothic buildings and a very bohemian street vibe...gorgeous. We’ve taken over the hostel and soon every surface is littered with laptops, cameras and an assortment of electronic gear.
The last two competition winners, Cheryl Lacellas from South Africa and Paula Steinbeck from Australia arrive and we welcome them with a huge house meal and musical jam.
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Concepcion
Date: 19-06-2008
Like a pack of mangy rockstars, the S4C crew roll into the Universidad de Concepcion and we present our talks to a tentative crew of surfers, students and activists. We share the talks with a local fisherman who was once a whaler and a Mapuche Indigenous elder who talked about their eco tourism activities in Pategonia.
Our night is spiced up by a super enthusiastic group of surfers who take us out for a night on the town, Concepcion stylee.. we’re soon singing folk songs and doing the traditional dances in one of the late night eateries. Tatiana, our tour manager is amongst her people and is absolutely radiating..
The next day we begin the 5hr drive back up the coast towards Santiago.. into the lion's den. After a solid 3 weeks on the road, rolling around the sandunes and coastal foothills of the chilean foreshores we now begin the last and most important leg of our journey, IWC week.
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Buchupureo
Date: 17-06-2008
Situated along a long winding dirt track (that apparently is the main road), we find another beautiful little seaside village with epic point breaks and crushing beachies. The boys hit the water before you can shout ‘Cochoyuyo!’
Watching the videos of the days surfing, the lighting is super eerie with a permanent soupy fog hanging off everything. Huge dark pelicans swarm through the mist, gliding in packs inches away from the surfers.. a curious seal, the size of a mid sized car, encroaches the line-up and takes an instant shining to Parko. In one shot, the beast is seen shadowing him across the face of a huge close-out wave.
A small group of us go up to Constitucion to a local primary school and talk to the school about our tour and what we’ve been up to. The kids are super receptive and a joy to share our adventures with. Once again we find that ¾ of the school is inoperative due to strikes however the teachers and children that are there show us their full support and share with us some of the environmental and social issues that they are facing. We’re treated to a cetacean artwork exhibition by the children who have created some of the most heartfelt artwork we haves seen to date.
Howie then busts out with his paints and starts drawing a huge minkie whale on the school’s mural wall.. the kids are stoked and follow his every movement, mesmerised while he dances around creating another cetacean masterpiece.
The next day we catch our first rain since the beginning of the tour and while the boys are out crunching waves, the rest of us have a chilled cosy day in front of the fire, catching up on respective work and enjoying a well-earned rest.
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Pichilemu
Date: 15-06-2008
After going native on the shores of Puertecillo, we’re treated to the lush ecologically friendly Surf Lodge, a short dirt track away from the fabled Punta de Lobos, one of the chunkiest waves known to big wave chargers in these parts.
One of our nights in Pichilemu we joined Rodrego Farias, organizer of the Pichilemu Surf Festival, to present his film “Chile Oculto”, and our slide show of the Visual Petition and Whale footage taken in Byron Bay, Australia. We also met up with environmentalist, and Chilean Program Director, Joshua Berry from the organization called “Save The Waves Coalition”. He screened the trailer for his up and coming movie called “All Points South”.
Local artist also presented some of their works, and three local bands came to play after the movie. We spent the rest of the night taking over a great restaurant in town, singing, drinking wine and shouting environmental facts, and silly jokes across the table. It was a nice night to get the whole crew of nineteen together in a non-working environment to unwind. It was time to move on to our next destination six hours south on a dirt road to a little village in the Buchupureo area.
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Puertecillo
Date: 12-06-2008
Descending through rich forested hillside through the hancienda. We get our first glimpse of this beautiful untouched coastline, a few hours south of Santiago. The villagers export seaweed known as Cochallullo all the way to Japan. Another export is a fish called Corvina that averages about 3lbs.
Arriving 1/2hr before dusk, the boys are keen to hit the point break and gun the fun little lefts peeling down the beach. This is our first surf for a few days and everyone is super stoked to be getting wet.
Our cabanas are situated halfway up the beach and we arrive just in time to see Joel Parkinson and Hilton rock up with Nathan Myers, Surfing Magazine journo.. The guys are completely amped, having just flown in and done the drive up from Santiago to end up in this lush coastal reserve. It doesn’t take long before everyone’s soon cracking jokes hooting and hollering like lifelong buddies. Great to have these guys onboard, providing some fresh energy and a new perspective on our Chilean journey.
The next 2 days are all about the waves..there’s no denying it. Having Parko here has shifted the surf-lust up a notch and everyone’s frothing to find the biggest fastest longest breaks in this valley of the lefts. We soon find a macking left that shoulders down the coast in a 4-6ft racey arc.
Wake up before the sun, drive to our secret spot, set up a toasty little beach fire, hit the waves, camp fire lunches, excursions to the surrounding areas, lots more surfing and home for sundown to wine and dine at our dinky little local restaurant. Living this amazing dream life.. like we’ve stepped back in time to the mythical era of surfing folklore.
Howie set up his beautiful tipi, which made for a great addition to the already stunning scenery. After our surf session we started a bonfire to roast some Cochallullo we scrounged up. It has an interesting texture, kind of like trying to eat a wetsuit, but very tasty.
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San Antonio
Date: 10-06-2008
The drive from Valparaiso to San Antonio is a short meander through the lush green countryside and we soon find ourselves in a completely contrasting environment where the town’s main fishing industry has been vastly decayed through decades of marine life exploitation by local and large scale overseas commercial fishing syndicates.
We are welcomed whole-heartedly by the traditional Artesenal Fisherman of San Antonio, despite protests a few weeks earlier that lead to riot squads battling frustrated fishermen and women in the very place we had gathered. The protests, due to the seas being literally empty was the only way local fishermen felt they could express their anger at the situation. The protest apparently ended quite badly with water cannons being used and over a hundred people ‘taken away’ by the police for disrupting the peace.
Despite recent disputes with ecologists, the artesenal fishermen are happy to receive our attention. All very friendly if somewhat curious, especially when Hannah is brought out and placed on top of their nets dressed in full mermaid attire. Local journalists are soon in a frenzy, rounding everyone up for the inevitable photo opportunity.
It is quite a heart wrenching experience to see such hard working folk barely make enough to feed their families yet still share their daily ‘communal pot’ of food with us. We hope that our presence has created an opportunity to gain some positive media attention for the plight of the traditional fishermen of San Antonio. Yet we know that the problems they face are not only local or national but happening the world throughout.
We met that night with the founder of the Natural Museum in San Antonio, Jose Luís Brito. He described that it is hard to explain to people in the area about ocean awareness and sustainable fishing practices, because most of the town people are very deprived and depend on the ocean for food resources. He also suggested that because of population expansion from inlanders, they do not have a strong cultural connection with ocean as did in past generations. Just across the street from the protest Howie Cook, Chris Del Moro and I started yet another Whale mural next to a mural done by local artist/youth worker Loreto Ramirez. Our time in San Antonio was short, but very informative on the current ecological and political situation of marine life in the area.
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Valparaiso - city of soul
Date: 10-06-2008
After an arduous journey for the surf crew - 2000km in 2 days - everyone meets up in the colourful city of Valparaiso. A hilly picturesque coastal harbour town dotted with hillside artisian communities, grand old European buildings and colourfully dressed Chileans. This town is the hub of Chilean ‘street culture’ and we can feel the creative vibes seeping out everywhere through the graffiti’d cracks in the stonewalls.
Honolua free surfer and artist, Chris Del Moro has just joined us and is quick to contribute to the visual aspect of the trip by painting a huge mother and calf humpback with Howie on the wall of our guesthouse. Plenty of interesting footage for the doco crew who, in their travels, run into a local by the name of Bruno Immortale, claiming to be 80yrs old, looking fit as a fiddle and still regularly running marathons. A completely eccentric character, he recites some local poetry, tells us interesting stories of the surrounding area then proudly announces that we can check him out on youtube..
Due to most of our crew having not slept for close to 40hrs, we decide to can the night’s cultural activities at the Centro Cultural Playa Ancha (Cultural Centre) and focus on being well rested for the rest of our journey.
The local Chilean musicians who were booked in to play at the cultural centre decide to descend on our tiny little hostel anyway and jam on until the early hours of the morning…quite an event despite almost everyone being unconscious, bar a few late night stragglers.
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Whale! Ballenas!!
Date: 09-06-2008
The film crew and Rodrigo are calling from their cliff top perches. Howie is in the middle of painting a whale on the rock face and Rodrigo is jumping around, so excited not only never having seen a whale ever but also capturing her on film in full breach.
A mother and calf come in closer and closer to the very place we are standing.. all the while, breaching, forward lunging and tail slapping. Everyone is exhilarated and we drink a small round of ‘Vino Tinto’ to celebrate with the Chilean surfers.
Howie decides to call his rock painting, ‘Chilean Whale Sanctuary Rocks’! Eventually the whales move off, their breath becoming small clouds drifted across the water, and suddenly the great mountain slopes transform into ancient giant whales, diving into the waters.
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Travelling down to Valparaiso
Date: 08-06-2008
We set off from Iquique at dawn, fuel up and a whale outline with rocks bids us adu. All day we drive along the cost, a convoy of 3 vehicles with surfboards loaded on the roof. The shear scale of the mountains take our breath away... As they inch their way town to the ocean, like huge pale grey brown glaciers of treeless broken rubble.
Like the very glaciers that form them, they have become massive loaves of bread. Baked in fires, long before man found fire…the recipe long ago washed out to sea.
And in this huge landscape we find outcrops of fishermen’s dwellings made of packing crates and tarpaulins and along the edge of the sea, mounds of seaweed, piled up like boulders.
We journeyed all day, night fell and we parked up in a totally isolated, rugged place not knowing exactly where we were. Dave climbed into his surfbag in the back of the ute while the rest of us crashed to sleep in the vehicles, climbing under whatever we could find that was warm. It was worth it as the next morning we stumbled upon an epic secret location desert wave., thanks to a tip off…. We met a crew of friendly local surfers who were camped there on the beach.
Dave and Dane charged the cold grey green north running faces, across scary looking outcrops and the endless scree that ascended on the massive prehistoric slopes into a luminous roof of soft clouds.
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Hello Sunshine!
Date: 07-06-2008
The surfing and film crew were up at the crack of dawn, keen to see what the incoming tide had brought them. We were fortunate enough to be situated close to one of the best breaks in the area and despite solid 4-6ft sets thumping through, the boys went in search of bigger, gnarlier waves. As with many searches, the outcome was that the swell prediction had not fully delivered as promised and ‘out the front’ was indeed the best spot be.
Homsy and his crew quickly set up position along the beach while Rasta and Dane Ward joined a small contingency of boogers about 50m out. It was a short ride and the waves were a little bumpy but a fun sesh had by all.
By the afternoon there seemed to be very little increase in swell size but the tide was lower and thanks to a local tip-off, Rasta found an absolutely slabbing wave to throw himself into. Easily one of the most unforgiving takeoffs we’d seen so far, the lip was thick with the shape of the barrel looking like an open square at times, dumping straight onto a stone reef reminiscent of oz’s fabled cyclopes. Despite our concerns, Dave had a ball and was utterly blissed for the rest of the day.
The next day the swell was still around, so the surf crew decided to get serious and put in a full day of filming down at ‘the slab’. The wave had become a bit more manageable with the high tide, so Dane and Rasta spent a solid 4-5hrs trading waves until hunger drove them in mid-afternoon.
The rest of the crew explored Iquique, which was in fact quite a beautiful town once you got past the chintz. World Heritage listed streets in the older part of the town with amazing wooden structures, complete with boardwalks and rooftop verandas gave the impression of being catapulted back in time to some western colonial era.
On dusk, we did some filming along some of the more interesting streets and a small crew of us ended up hitting the town with our new-found friend, Richardo, who was vice president of the local surf rider foundation. Richardo turned out to be ‘the man’ in Iquique and had almost Mafioso-style privileges in all the bars and clubs we frequented, working the town like a mayoral candidate on election-eve.
The next night was our last night in Iquique and Richardo’s reputation of being the host with the most had spread and a few more of us hit the town, ‘Richardo stylee’. He looked after us all night, introducing us to everyone from the local Minister of Tourism to ex-pat property tycoons to local supermodels. His magnanimous nature made him loved by all and in a sozzled blur we were left swaying outside our hostel, hailing him as the undisputed king if Iquique.
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Iquique Tour
Date: 05-06-2008
Our first tour of duty in Iquique is to meet the Mayoress, Myrta Dubost, to discuss oceanic environmental issues and propose Iquique be the first town in Chile to support a Chilean version of the Humpback Icon Project (HIP).
HIP is a highly successful campaign in Australia, designed to bring about cetacean awareness by getting local towns to 'Adopt a Whale'. The HIP project was thought of by our very own Howie Cooke and is a three-way partnership between S4C, the Oceanic Project and IFAW.
Mayoress Myrta was reluctant to agree on the spot to the project without reading over the details but promised us support once we spoke to the local university and surfing environmental group. Nonetheless, we all walked away feeling very positive about the outcome, and learnt of some of the issues affecting the marine waters around Iquique.
We then went on to meet students and professors of the Marine Science School at the local university, Universidad de Arturo Prat. In the spirit of protest, all the students were striking over increasing student fees and so our talk consisted of a few curious students & professors not attending the rallies.
The professors were delighted in our campaign, promising us support on the HIP project and to strengthen ties between the marine science faculty in Iquique and Australia.
Throughout the day, the isobars were dropping and a massive low was slowly creeping up the coast of Chile, peeling into long cylindrical lines along the forshore. Rasta was like a puppy in a petstore..keen to see what the morning would bring in terms of wave swell. Reports were coming in from further south that it would be cranking in the morning.
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Arriving in Iquique
Date: 04-06-2008
After the warmth and tranquility of sleepy little Arica town, Iquique is a bit of a shock to our system. Our first hurdle is a truckers strike roadblock. The scene seems like something out of a war zone, with large scruffy truckers supporting balaclavas and baseball bats, burning huge rubber tyre fires and attacking any car brave enough to run the gauntlet.
Tatiana incredibly plucks up the courage to leap out of the car and don her negotiating skills, informing the strikers of our plight and how we were desparate to continue our mission. They seemed fairly unperturbed and keep us at bay, slowly moving in like a pack of hungry jackals.
Tati quickly retreats to one of the vehicles, only to return with a digital camera! The mood instantly lifts and the truckers are soon hooting and hollering, unable to resist the temptation of a good photo with a pretty young lady. The rucus soon attracts the attention of the local police force who were meekly keeping to themselves by pretending to re-direct traffic.
Soon Tatiana is the star of the blockade and everyone is smiling and laughing. The situation is sealed with a round of kisses for the trucking 'warlords' and the one game police officer and we are back on our way!
Iquique is a fairly touristic coastal town, much larger than Arica and filled with trashy looking high rises and gimmicky restaurants and bars. Our hostel is very close to the beach and was buzzing with frothing Chilean surfers all wanting a photo with Rasta who, under the circumstances, put on a brave face and weathered the onslaught.
Waiting for us were freelance surf videographer Matt Wybenga, Surfing magazine photographer Jeff Flint, Ian Burrell documentary soundman and billabong pro-surfer Dane Ward. They had arrived in town a day earlier and looked a little relieved to see us.
We celebrated the second leg of our journey by feasting at the Restaurant El Tercer Ojito (the third eye), which was unbelievably delicious and made some of the yummiest pisco sours on the planet (plug plug..)
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Leaving Arica for Iquique
Date: 03-06-2008
Sadly our time in Arica ended very quickly, and after 4 magical days, we set off into the desert to make our way south to Iquique.
The road wound through breathtaking sand-dune mountains, dramatically unfolding towards Iquique. Along the way were some unusual statues of historical indigenous cultural significance and also rumored to be an alien landing pad. Very cool place apart from the ubiquitous tourist trash drifting along the sands...
Further down, we discovered an ubercool valley to do some filming and it was decided that we would create a massive sand message with a 60m whale sketched into the side of the sand-dune.
Howie drew the whale, Crystal and Andy completed the 'El Mar Mi Alma' tour title (the ocean - my soul) in a little under 2hrs. By the end of it, we were all sweating and breathing like we'd just jogged a marathon, still being incredibly high up in the mountains. The end result was staggering and was captured on timelapse for the documentary that was being filmed.
We're not sure how long it will last there but as there is no rain and winds are very mild, it may last a very long time and is sure to put a quizzical smile on the faces of people passing by. Perhaps even seen by visiting aliens..? Watch this space.
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First School Visit - Escula Tucapel-Arica
Date: 02-06-2008
Our first school visit was to Escula Tucapel-Arica. The children were amazed to see such colourful 'gringos' and we all became instant celebrities in their eyes! We each gave a brief talk to the whole school then showed slides and short movies to the 'environmental' class. A very rewarding experience.. especially for our soundman who was inundated with little notes full of email address from the schoolgirls..
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Arica - El Mar Mi Alma tour official launch
Date: 01-06-2008
Our official tour launch was held in the town square by the local minister for tourism in Arica..(apparently the mayor is in a spot of bother over some corruption allegations)
A fairly quiet turn-out due to the town being in mourning as a local Army General had died and the funeral procession had the town's attention. We still had lots of media attention however and a nice way to ease into the spotlight.
Hannah was definitely a big hit.. especially with a large band of Peruvian musicians who were wandering about, unable to play any music because of the funeral procession.
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Arrival in Chile
Date: 30-05-2008
After a grueling 30hrs travel, the first of the S4C crew (Hannah, Howie & Andy) arrive in Arica, Chile. We are greeted at the airport by the enigmatic 'Kurt' from Arica Surfhouse, who instantly makes us feel at home and welcomes us into his family run hostel.
Arica is an explosive contrast of desert, mountains, rich cold waters and slabbing waves. Artisan ground water feeds oasis valleys, supplying the town with delicious tropical foods and fruits... apparently this is the driest desert on the planet and hasn't rained in over 400yrs.
Dave missed his flight from France, due to bad weather and arrives 24hrs later, as does pro surfer Crystal Thornburg & legendary filmsman Dave Homcy, Chile's top pro surfer Cristian Merello and Chilean Surfestival director & filmmaker Rodrigo Farias. The swell was up but not so clean.. Kirt is leading the tow-in contingency on El Buey whilst we catch up on some well-earned rest.
The following day, El Gringo has 6ft stompers and Rasta snaps his 6'5 on the first wave. Cristian also manages to snap 2 boards in two days... This wave is really heavy.. even more dangerous in smaller conditions because of close proximity to reef.
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