GoKo Travels is delighted to announce that we are now official partners of the incredible non-profit marine conservation organisation Sea Shepherd.
Who are Sea Shepherd?
Sea Shepherd is a direct-action marine conversation organisation. Their mission is to defend, conserve and protect the world’s oceans from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction.
Sadly, our ocean and its inhabitants are dying from overfishing and habitat destruction. Poachers plunder marine wildlife sanctuaries with impunity, illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing goes unchecked, and millions of animals are killed as bycatch.
Thanks to their passionate volunteers, Sea Shepherd run campaigns that really matter; on ship and through direct intervention. As a result, Sea Shepherd now has the biggest independent navy on the planet – solely aimed at protecting the ocean. Using innovative tactics, Sea Shepherd investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.
What’s more, Sea Shepherd work closely together with governments and law enforcement agencies around the world to tackle and chase down illegal fishing in sovereign waters. What’s even more impressive, when there is nobody else willing to step forward, the Sea Shepherd team will raise their flag and move into uncharted waters to defend, conserve, and protect!
With the mission to protect all marine life species living in our oceans, Sea Shepherd campaigns to defend whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, penguins, turtles, fish, krill and aquatic birds from poaching, unsustainable fishing, habitat destruction, pollution and exploitive captivity.
In order for these species to survive, they require refuges where they may feed, breed, and rear their young without being exposed to pollution, deadly fishing gear, plastics, or other marine debris that suffocate aquatic species and destroy their habitats. As such, Sea Shepherd opposes the pollution of the fragile ecosystem through off-shore drilling and fisheries, as well as the destruction of coral reefs from trawling, and the loss of coastal nesting sites from commercial development.
Sea Shepherd UK Currently Run The Following Campaigns:
1. Operation Bloody Fjords in the Faroe Islands: Documenting and exposing the Grindadráp (locally known as a grind). Hunts of 667 long fined pilot whales and 1248 Atlantic white-sided dolphins have taken place in 2021 alone. It is time for a change. Sea Shepherd are calling on the Faroe Islands’ government to do the right thing and ban this outdated and cruel practice. Now YOU CAN HELP, by being part of the global movement and taking action today. See more here: https://www.stopthegrind.org #STOPTHEGRIND
2. Ghost Net Campaigns: Manage and support a team of technical divers on Sea Shepherd UK’s Ghostnet campaign who are removing lost and discarded nets and other fishing gear from UK coastal waters.
3. Ocean Clean Ups: Sea Shepherd fund equipment used to clean beaches and recycle or dispose of recovered items on their ongoing Marine Debris Campaign.
4. Patrols & Action: Sea Shepherd operates four RHIBs around the UK – Ghost, Phantom, Shadow and Siren which are used for patrols and for direct campaign actions.
5. UK fishing investigations: Sea Shepherd UK carries out investigations around the UK into the killing of marine wildlife or destruction of coastal habitats.
How Does GoKo Travels Support Sea Shepherd?
GoKo Travels registered non-for-profit, “The GoKo Earth Preservation”, has been set up to preserve the natural habitats and cultural heritage of our planet and to conserve and enhance the biodiversity of all variabilities.
The GoKo Earth Preservation achieves this through a 3 step VSC & CCBA gold standard backed carbon offsetting scheme, the purchasing of rainforest reserves, the restoration of important lands and the support of marine conversation projects around the globe.
As a result, GoKo Travels has pledged to donate a percentage of every holiday we sell to Sea Shepherd to help fund and support important marine campaigns around the world. With your help, we can defend, conserve, and protect the future of our oceans and its marine wildlife from illegal exploitation and habitat destruction.
Please visit https://gokotravels.com/goko-foundation to donate today.
