I was arranging a trip on a deep-sea hake trawler for routine seabird interaction data collection and mitigation measure demonstrations, which luckily gave rise to a trip on board the ‘African Queen’, one of the local deep-sea trawlers.
On arrival, I was well received with great smiles and hand-shakes from the Skipper and his first mate. The skipper, Mr Roy Diedricks is of course the pioneer of one of the seabird mitigation measures we have tested and since coined as ‘Rory lines’. These are additional bird-scaring devices that provide extra protection to prevent seabirds from entering the area directly behind the vessel.
Below: 'Rory Lines' provide extra protection to prevent seabirds enter the danger area behind trawlers. Image: Lisa Mansfield
After all the formalities were done I was taken by the first mate to meet and greet the crew. Geez, what an awesome crew they are. They too were welcoming and very interested in the work we do as the Albatross Task Force team.
As the first mate showed me around the decks and cabins I found it intriguing that there were several beautiful photos of seabirds. They grabbed my attention and I had to commend the first mate for his obvious love of seabird conservation. He told me about his love for seabirds and how his crew is dedicated to making a difference in terms of seabird conservation.
I was pleased to find that their interest was inspired by the seabird champion Mr Roy Diedricks. On arrival to the fishing grounds and still fighting those early days of sea sickness we set and hauled the first trawl, but the winch broke down as they were deploying the nets for the next trawl.
The broken winch couldn’t be fixed or repaired at-sea and as such the boat was forced to return to shore and thus ruined what was looking like being a great sea trips. As disappointed as I was, I also realised that this was beyond anyone’s control and therefore had to make peace with the situation.
I hope there will always be other opportunities for me to go on board the majestic ‘African Queen’!
Below: Captain Roy Diedricks of the African Queen. Image: Tshikana Rasehlomi