17 March, 2022
Marina Port de Mallorca, located in the heart of Palma, recently welcomed the Greenpeace ship Witness after she was forced to delay her Mediterranean crossing due to the adverse weather conditions at the moment. As soon as conditions improve, the ship plans to set sail again for Israel, where she will carry out a fascinating research project.
The 22.5-metre Witness, launched in 2003 in South Africa, was acquired by Greenpeace in September 2021 and relaunched in November after a refit that included green improvements such as solar panels, wind turbines and an optimised energy management system. The ship will be added to Greenpeace's fleet dedicated to research projects around the world.
This is her first mission for Greenpeace and began in Amsterdam last February on course to Israel. Her seven-strong crew, captained by Daniel Mares, has so far sailed more than 1,700 nautical miles to reach Mallorca and plans to travel another 1,600 nautical miles to Israeli waters, where they will carry out research into local marine species.
The ship is fitted with a powerful hydrophone that allows the crew to detect and collect any type of sound at sea, which is subsequently analysed and classified. This data provides information on what type of animal has been found, how far it is from the boat, how many animals are in the group, their size, and much more. This makes it easier to learn about the type of marine life in the area and its characteristics, which is very useful for creating future ocean protection proposals. The aim is to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.
In relation to the Israeli mission, the crew know that sperm whales live in the area, so they hope to collect data on this majestic animal, which is the largest toothed animal in the world, reaching up to twenty metres in length and fifty thousand kilos in weight.
Daniel Mares, captain of Witness on this expedition and involved with Greenpeace since 1994, thanked the marina for welcoming the ship and said that he was impressed to see such well-equipped facilities in terms of waste separation and recycling, energy and water saving, and the awareness campaign for customers to implement good environmental practices both at sea and on land.
