22 JULY 2017 • FOGHORN FOGHORNFOCUS: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES The Eliminators By Nathan Krohn, UnCruise Adventures Take only photographs and leave only footprints. At UnCruise Adventures, this is a phrase we live by as we visit wild and remote places from Alaska to Costa Rica and Panama. But sometimes leaving a place exactly how we found it isn’t good enough. Unfortunately, sometimes we find that others have left more than just footprints. In March, the Safari Explorer came across a giant fishing net while cruising in Hawaii. “We came across this net while whale watching a mother and new calf,” said Safari Explorer Captain Rod Van Emelen. “Once we saw the net, there was no question in our minds that we weren’t leaving without it.” It is a rare occurrence to find a net of this size but finding small ocean debris is not uncommon. “We send out satellite skiffs with guests and often these return with some chunks of derelict line, but the net we recently removed is the first truly large example of derelict fishing gear we’ve had the pleasure of bringing aboard,” said Van Emelen. The crew used knifes to cut the gigantic net into smaller sections so that it could be stuffed into trash bags and disposed of at the next standard garbage drop off. While we tip our hats off to the captain and crew of the Safari Explorer for a fantastic job, our kudos don’t stop there. The crew aboard every ship in our fleet goes the extra mile to help clean up our environment whenever possible. “I would say it happened about six times a season on the Wilderness Discoverer in Alaska when we would come across a large chunk of Styrofoam or something similar floating in the water,” explains Pam Navis, UnCruise SEE THE VIDEOS HERE: http://khon2.com/2017/03/24/whale-watching- expedition-encounters-massive-ocean-debris/ AND: https://youtu.be/etnkpm3GoRQ?list=PL6BlZDM1bFA2oPvIWgLwsEYFMxK07jsTq guest adventures manager and former Wilderness Discoverer expedition leader. “If we see something from the big boat or one of the smaller ones, we’ll turn around and get it.” This doesn’t just apply to ocean trash. While hiking, we may find debris that has washed ashore. We came across piles of trash on a remote beach in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez in December 2015. CEO Dan Blanchard led the cleanup charge as we filled several supersized trash bags. Sometimes it’s not just good enough to leave a place the way you found it. UNCRUISE ADVENTURE’S RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL ACTIONS: • Purchase local food and supplies • Serve only sustainable seafood and partner with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program • Partner with local people for cultural tours / presentations • Follow “Leave No Trace” practices • Purchase supplies with less packaging to reduce waste • Recycle wherever facilities exist • Eco-friendly bath amenities on board in refillable containers • Reusable water bottles in each cabin for guest use; no bottled water on board • Donate to local organizations in areas where we operate Watermark Green Efforts to Protect the Chesapeake Bay In recent years, Chesapeake Marine Tours, dba Watermark,Annapolis, MD, has made conscious efforts to reduce our footprint and grow awareness of the importance of going green. The operation’s strong efforts began to bear its fruits in 2010, when Watermark gained the title of a Passenger Vessel Association (PVA)