sea shepherd finds some friends at sherbrooke

Last night I attended a fundraiser organised by Sherbrooke Community School student, Jordan Crooka to raise money for the Sea Shepherd. Jordan did a great job organising the food, entertainment and a myriad of auction items and raised over $3,000 for his efforts.

Pictured left to right: Campbell Holland (Ships Engineer), Kate Henderwood, Jordan Crooka, Samantha Dunn and Sara Keltie (Marine Biologist).

The event was well supported by the local community and the crowd were treated to entertainment by Sherbrooke student Kate Henderwood accompanied by Jordan Crooka, Athula Mamaborupodakqua, The Ineligible and Anna Paddick (a very talented ex Sherbrooke student).

People were captivated by the presentation by Campbell Holland, Ships Engineer on the Sea Shepherd's ship the Bob Barker. Campbell gave a great insight to being a crew member on board a Sea Shepherd ship and the sorts of tactics the Japanese Whalers resort to in the Southern Ocean. This year's whaling season saw the Japanese whaler Shonan Maru 2 destroy the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil. It was an atrocious act which endangered the lives of the six crew on board and highlighted the lack of scrutiny our government gives to what is happening out on the Southern Ocean.

Sara Keltie, Sea Shepherd Crew member and marine biologist gave an insight into the shocking trade in shark fin and the plight of critically endangered species such as Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and various species of Sharks (18 species are listed as endangered which is alarming given their status as alpha predators).

Sold! Enthusiastic auctioneers, Denise Dempsey, Robert Pergl and Jordan Crooka ran a pacey and energetic auction. It was terrific to see Greens Senator Bob Brown support the event by donating a signed photo taken by him of Recherche Bay in far South Tasmania (now happily hanging on my wall).

Well done Jordan, you are a credit to your school, motivated and passionate, our future looks bright with emerging leaders like you.