Whale, pectoral fin vertical in the air: Rasta: “The great thing about this is it happened about an hour-and-a-half into the trip, we were given this salute, like the whales were saying: ‘Hey, have a good trip!’
Straight away we were having this interaction. It was amazing.”

Connecting with whales, Lennox Head, Rasta: Rasta waving at a humpback whale and the whale waving right back.

As expected, our journey to date has been a whirlwind of lessons from the sea, vagabond camping and sharing space with some the sea’s most amazing creatures. The Transparentsea crew and I are continually tightening ship in order to make this journey as safe and successful as possible. It feels like we’ve crammed a month of living into a single week. I could go on about the amazing gifts we have received daily, but instead I will tap into to a few of the highlights thus far.

Enjoy, Chris 111

The Tiger Shark …

One would be a fool not to recognize Australia’s reputation for sharks. From the dozen or so encounters I’ve had, eight of them have been on Australia’s East Coast. But after some talks with Dave and Hilts about the likelihood of more encounters on this journey, I decided it was a much better mindset to embrace their presence rather than fear it. In hindsight that was a great mentality to have because midway through day 2, as we rode waves far out at sea, I felt someone, or something, staring at me from behind. I thought it was Will, looked back and saw a large object following me. First I thought it was a dolphin, then maybe a juvenile whale then I finally accepted the fact that it was a 10-12 foot tiger shark trailing my boat. It stayed with me for about a minute than lost interest and moved on. It was an amazing creature, so graceful and powerful. 
Considering that thousands of sharks are killed every year for just their fins, I was really happy to have put aside my fears and to be able to appreciate that amazing creature. I let out a huge hoot and kept on sailing.

An Afternoon to Remember …

There’s something about sailing that brings with it clarity of thought. I did my best to not speak at sea today and was rewarded with rich creative thoughts, visions of family and love for our planet. After a full-on day of sailing with perfect winds we floated to shore and the lee of a quaint headland. Once the kayaks were packed away, we were told a massive hailstorm was heading our way. Within an hour a black cloud engulfed us, it pissed down rain, dissipated and threw a full double rainbow. 
The crew danced in the sand like kids on Christmas morning. 
That night, as Will channelled the spirit of Neil Young, we watched an epic harvest moon rise over the sea. All in all, we all went to bed with smiles on our faces.

Biggest Day Yet

After consulting the week’s weather maps, admiral Rastovich made the call that we would leave shore via moonlight so at 5am we slipped into the water effortlessly and began our pedal south. 
In the glassy sea, we welcomed our first visit by a large pod of dolphins. Such a great morning treat …

Later, we came across a series of baited traps and checked their content. Dave discovered a leopard shark tightly wedged in the trap and set it free. Although legal, these traps are indiscriminate killers, taking down just about any creature looking for an easy feed. 
The forecasted NW wind finally hit around 9:30 and sent us flying down the coast. With the great winds at our backs we decided to push on as far as the wind would take us. 
Become complacent and the elements will serve you a wake up call. Today, Will snapped his rotor pin and I almost capsized at high speeds. 
As we rolled into Woolgoolga, we were met by pods of Humpbacks. 
One had three adults and two children showing off for spectators on the headland. 
As we watched them tail slap and breach, a strong N wind started to howl causing us to frantically sail to safety. As I tried to keep my vessel away from the headland a juvenile crossed my path and breached in front of my boat about 15 times. An act of pure play.

Whale tails off Woolgoolga “We’ve seen heaps of whales. There are mothers teaching their young to jump – it’s amazing,” says Rasta.  Sadly, none of the scientific data the Japanese claim necessitates the killing of whales amounts to anything that could not be found by simply analysing skin samples from the mammals; skin samples that can be collected as they float on the surface of the water.

Whale tail, North Coast: Ironically, the whale watching industry is worth $350 million, but the animals are still in danger.

We made it to shore and lucked out on a small right hand rip bank. We all surfed and body surfed as we waited for the wind to switch south, so we could make it to the protected side to camp. On our crossing back with the south winds, Hilton and Justin were almost driven into the rocks and did well to make it to shore. Considering it was Justin’s first day on the guest boat he did well as we clocked 11 hours in the saddle and 78 km sailed in the most diverse conditions yet. 
What an adventure!

Chris Del Moro – forehand roundhouse cutback “After a super hectic morning of south winds, and tacking and not making much forward progress, it was really nice to get in the water at a scenic right-hand sandbar and get loose…”

Rasta mini Tube

Rasta – cutback in front of Moro “This was taken after nine hours of sailing. We were frothing. I think I body surfed about 60 waves in a row after that, frothing on the corner wedge of that beach. There are so many beaches on the East Coast; I hadn’t surfed at this spot before.
I’ve got the ‘Something about Mary’ hair-do going on too …” Rasta.

Kristy, Will, Chris – and the results of just 20 minutes near Iluka

The reason this particular group of people are sharing the Transparentsea adventure is because we all enjoy similar creative pastimes such as, surfing, music, sailing, art, writing etc. Obviously our natural surroundings play a huge part in our ability to enjoy these pleasures.
It seems a lot of my good and bad habits came from what I learnt as a kid. I remember my parents being super addiment that I never litter, especially a beach. That’s the reason why I feel kind of guilty if I don’t take at least a few pieces of rubbish with me after every surf.
Our first sailing guest was Kristy Theissling (General Manager of Surfrider Foundation Australia) She took this concept one step further and really taught our whole crew about the actual affects of all of the rubbish we are collecting along the way. Kristy’s enthusiasm and energy at the end of each full day of sailing really got us off our arses. We all took notice real quick! Not only did she sail circles around us, she was ready to load up bags of rubbish, sort and log it all then teach us the graphic details of what all this rubbish does to our marine life.
For example: A small piece of Styrofoam breaks down and looks like fish eggs. This gets lodged in the stomach and slowly starves the poor creature who ingests it. A floating plastic bag looks like a jellyfish which turtles love and that’s another death trap. The list goes on and on, but finding a plastic bag on the beach now really hits home and I feel like I just saved a turtle.
Right now the sun is setting on a perfect afternoon, we’re at a small beach campsite on the north coast. Some kids just walked by me and threw empty beer bottles in the sand dunes …

Will Conner.

Day 3 – Beach Clean Ups Yamba Part 2 from Billabong on Vimeo.

Dave Rastovich, pro surfer and environmental campaigner, drags his 'trimaran' to the water's edge at Byron Bay to begin an epic 36 day voyage to Sydney. Image by: LouiseBeaumont.com

(Thursday, October 1st, Byron Bay, Australia): A large crowd of well-wishers gathered on Byron Bay’s Main Beach this morning to show their support for five daring environmental campaigners who have begun a 36 day voyage by sea to Sydney to highlight the plight of migrating humpback whales and to draw awareness to coastal pollution issues.

Dubbed “Transparentsea”, the odyssey is an initiative of professional surfer Dave Rastovich, an environmental crusader who is joined on his quest by Californian surfer and artist Chris Del Moro (San Diego, CA, USA), Musician Will Conner (AUS), Photographer Hilton Dawe (Byron Bay, NSW, AUS) and Surfrider Foundation’s Kristy Theissling (Coolangatta, QLD, AUS).

Paddling single-seat “trimaran” sea kayaks, the participants will use only the wind and the waves to assist them on their journey, as they trace the migration paths of the whales destined for the Southern Ocean.

During their frequent stops along the East Coast, the team will also engage local communities to assist in beach clean-ups, as well as highlighting and recording other areas of environmental concern including the effects of the commercial fishing industry on marine mammals and fish stocks; run-off issues to do with agricultural, domestic and industrial human activities; and the state of rivers and estuaries.
“It’s a great honour to be here from California representing such a great cause and the organisation Surfers for Cetaceans,” said Del Moro.

“I’m just stoked to see Australians have such an incredible support for environmental issues, especially water and ocean related issues and the fight against whaling and dolphin hunts. In the States we have a lot of people who are really fired up, but here it seems like whole communities are coming out. Everyone’s really given us their support; it feels like a lot of people are really backing it (Transparentsea). It excites me to think we’ll be at sea with these amazing creatures, it’s going to be life changing,” he added.

Pro Surfer Dave Rastovich heads out from Byron Bay, commencing an epic 700km voyage to Sydney by sea to raise awareness about the plight of humpback whales. Rastovich is joined by Californian campaigner Chris Del Moro, musician Will Conner, photographer Hilton Dawe and Kristy Theisslin, GM of Surfrider Foundation, Australia. Image by:Grambeau

A stunning aerial view of the Transparentsea campaigners heading south from Cape Byron, the first paddles of a 700 kilometer voyage behind them. Sharks and whales were sighted within minutes of leaving Byron Bay's Main Beach. image by:Billabong/Fetch.

A fresh northerly wind and swell provided the paddlers with the perfect start, and by the end of day one, they hope to have reached Evans Head, some 60 kilometers south, before a planned rendezvous with Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd and his ship, the “Steve Irwin” in the vicinity of Yamba this weekend.

Before setting off, Rastovich appealed to all those present to unite and help to support the causes in whatever way they could.

“Our goal is to get information and the message out to the public and everyone who has an interest. We need to get out the message to Kevin Rudd (PM. Australia) and Peter Garrett (Minister for Environment) so they can step up, and do the job they said they were going to do and that is go down and fight sanctuary laws in Antarctica,” said Rastovich.

“Right now, the only ship going to Antarctica is Sea Shepherd. This whole trip is about escorting the whales down the coast. When we get to Sydney, November 5th, we’re going to be joining with the Steve Irwin (ship) and the Sea Shepherd crew and launching their campaign as they head off to protect these whales passing us right now. So if anyone has anything they can give to help the Sea Shepherd, please do so.”

Migaloo, the only recorded all-white humpback whale in the world, created a stir earlier this week when he was spotted near Cape Byron traveling south with a pod of five other whales.

This morning, a pod of six whales was spotted as the paddlers made their way around the Cape for what will surely be a great test of endurance and possibly the surf trip of a lifetime.

For more info, please see the links below, or contact:
Transparentsea : www.transparentseavoyage.com
Media contact: jj@premiummedia.com.au
Mobile: +61 (0) 421 384 431

About Transparentsea:

The primary intention of the Transparentsea journey is to draw attention to the plight of the migrating whales that ultimately are destined for the chilly waters of the Southern Ocean and the inevitable visits by Japanese whaling fleets.

In addition, the Transparentsea team will record and highlight other areas of environmental concern including the effects of the commercial fishing industry on marine mammals and fish stocks; run-off issues to do with agricultural, domestic and industrial human activities; the state of rivers and estuaries; and where necessary they will also initiate beach clean-ups.

An additional kayak is available for media and special guests. Please contact JJ@premiummedia.com.au

Transparentsea is possible thanks the support of Surfrider Foundation, Surfers for Cetaceans, Billabong, Coastal Watch, Go Pro Water Proof Cameras and Surfing World magazine.

Friends of:

www.SurfersForCetaceans.com, www.seashepherd.org, www.surfrider.org.au, www.oceancare.org.au. www.RemoveSharkNets.com , www.SaveJapanDolphins.org, www.TheCoveMovie.com,

Dave Rastovich:

Dave Rastovich is a former World Junior surfing champion and world-renowned free-surfer. In 2006 “Rasta” co-founded the “Surfers for Cetaceans” movement. In July this year Rasta was granted one of just 200 invitations to attend former US Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Project – Asia-Pacific Summit. http://www.billabong.com/au/team-rider/surf/17/rasta

Chris Del Moro:

Chris has “an excited butterfly-type feeling” about forthcoming test of endurance and surf trip of a lifetime! The Californian artist and free-surfer is also co-director of the Surfers for Cetaceans organisation and traveled with Rasta to Chile (2008) and Portugal (2009) to attend the IWC (International Whaling Convention). www.collecticlife.com

Will Conner:

Will has just finished his 3rd album “You Make Me Sing” due to release early 2010 featuring guests JJ Grey from MOFRO and G. Love. Having accepting Rasta’s invitation, Will states: “I am offering help in the form of musical entertainment, and I am now the proud owner of a yellow Ukulele and plan on annoying everyone including the whales for 36 days straight!” www.willconner.com

Kristy Theissling:

Kristy has traded a promising career as a journalist and role as online editor for Australia’s largest surf-related website, coastalwatch.com to accept a role as General Manager of Surfrider Foundation, Australia. Based in Queensland, Kristy has a history of environmental based campaigning. www.surfrider.org

For further media information, please visit www.transparentseavoyage.com or contact:

jj@premiummedia.com.au / +61 (0) 421 384 431

Surfriders' Kristy Theissling will be departing with Dave and crew from Byron Bay and participating in the journey.

Each day on arrival at the beaches, the Transparentsea crew and members of the community will partake in beach cleanups. The rubbish collected will be counted and the data added to the National marine debris database.

The National Marine Debris Initiative is a project aimed at empowering local communities and individuals to take ownership of their local beaches by regularly removing the rubbish, in particular plastics, that arrive or is dropped or dumped on their shores.

100,000 marine animals and 1 million sea birds die every year from ingesting or becoming entangled in marine debris. In every square mile of ocean is an estimated 46,000 pieces of marine debris.

Members of the community are invited to come along to the cleanups. Visit surfrider.org.au/transparentsea for information on how you can be involved.

Surfriders’ Kristy Theissling will be departing with Dave and crew from Byron Bay and participating in the journey.

You can watch Kristy’s progress on the surfrider.org.au website, so stay tuned!