Rainbow Warrior docks in San Diego

In addition to the Star of India and the Midway, the San Diego Harbor docked Greenpeace’s the Rainbow Warrior over the weekend of Nov. 22-24. As a part of the ship’s world tour, the Rainbow warrior came to San Diego to offer information to locals about the ship and the cause it represents as well as participate in some peaceful activism.

Greenpeace is a nonprofit activist organization that began in 1971, when a group of individuals initiated a peaceful protest against a nuclear test site that the US government had set up off of the coast of Canada. The organization began as a group of 15 dedicated members, but has grown in size and influence ever since.

“When we came back to shore there were hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of people giving us support and praise with signs and posters. That started a movement that’s been going strong ever since,” senior manager, Andrew Thorne senior manager said.

Since that first protest, Greenpeace has led several successful movements. They have ended clear-cut logging by major corporations, ending the clubbing of baby seals for fur and putting an international ban on whaling among many other environmental victories. This year alone, Greenpeace has protected over 100 million acres in the Indonesian rainforest. All of this was done through the hard work and funding of volunteers.

“Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization. In 43 years of our history  we have never taken a single dollar from a company or government and we never will. It allows us to focus on what we really believe,” seafood campaign manager, Casson Trenor said.

In order to spread their message and gain support, Greenpeace has been sailing its ships on a world tour. The Rainbow Warrior is one of three Greenpeace ships, in addition to the Arctic Sunrise and Esperanza. The ship that docked in San Diego is the third version of The Rainbow Warrior and was specifically designed by and built for the organization, making it one of the cleanest running ships in the world. It features a specific hull shape, A-frame sails and electric drive system which make it highly energy efficient in addition to features that limit the amount of waste the ship produces.

“Since setting sail in 1978 the Rainbow Warrior has been on the frontline of the struggle against environmental abuse,” Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International’s Executive Director, said. “She is an icon of non-violent direct action and a beacon of hope for millions of people around the world.”

The ship also accommodates a crew of 30 individuals who come from all different nationalities and backgrounds but share a common passion for the environment. It was because of this passion that Greenpeace came to San Diego. In addition to spreading awareness about the Arctic 30, a group of Greenpeace activists who were taken captive by the Russian government for protesting a new oil rig with one member yet to be released, the organization wants to work to in San Diego’s tuna market.

“The reason that we come to San Diego in particular is because of a particular area that Greenpeace has been focusing which is protecting our oceans. Specifically in this case, we’re looking at our relationship with the ocean and seafood sustainability,” Trenor said.

Bumblebee and Chicken of the Sea, which have corporations in San Diego, are catching tuna in a destructive manner which is harming the ocean ecosystem as a whole. Hundreds of thousands of animals are killed every year in the pursuit of catching tuna. Greenpeace offers a solution to this issue by promoting the purchase of tuna that is sustainably fished, which will be better for the corporations, consumer and environment in the long run.

“Greenpeace is not campaigning to end tuna consumption. We are not advocating that people stop eating tuna or stop selling tuna or stop fishing tuna. Just the opposite, we want more fish in the sea to support the industry,” Trenor said.

Just like with all their work, Greenpeace works through peaceful demonstrations and activism  by volunteers to bring about change.

“We can no longer let these issues become something that we’ll just handle later,” Thorne said. “A cool thing is that a small group of individuals can change one of the world’s biggest problems.”