The commercial fishing technique of 'longlining' is the predominant threat to many Albatross species worldwide.
Studies have shown that nearly 100,000 Albatross are killed every year due to long lines.
Extending for miles with hundreds or thousands of baited hooks, the fishy long lines attract Albatross, who become easily entangled and drown after attempting to feed on the bait.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) sates that 19 out of the 21 species of Albatross around the world are now threatened.
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Logs & Blogs
'Sao Gabriel to Uacara village'
Dec 7, 2011
December 3rd-4th
We had another day in Sao Gabriel to do our own things on Saturday (the 3rd December). Half of the group joined the locals on the bus into town, while the other half went with Miguel on the Cicerone to travel up the river.
Cara took the intriguing journey on the bus. Stepping over bunches of bananas in the aisle our group sat separately as it was already quite full. What an image of this bus with six obvious foreigners scattered around, in between the much smaller locals! The bus chugged up the hill and picked up more and more people on the way into Sao Gabriel, packing them wherever they could fit – with sometimes up to four or five people on one seat!
We arrived in the centre of town, and it was really busy. Seeing a market open we realized a lot of the people on the bus were either going there to buy, or sell. The place was filled with fruit, vegetables, jewellery and fish. We wandered around chatting to the sellers while making our purchases. The streets were lined with shops selling all sorts of weird and wonderful objects, and the colourful hammocks hanging up everywhere made the area feel festive.
Janot went by boat up the rapids along with Marc Shaw and some of the others. They were once again amazed by the power of this river and the knowledge of the local people who are going up and down in their canoes, using the eddies as their guide and helping Miguel to find his way up through the whirlpools.
They then stopped a while on an island in the middle of the river just where the waters are the fastest due to a natural step that marks the limit between the Lower and High Rio Negro. After taking a lot of pictures and filming the turmoil of the water, they headed towards the beach at Sao Gabriel where they eventually met the other part of the group.
In the morning of Sunday the 4th, we left Camanaus and started our journey down river. Miguel wanted to find us some fish, and the way they to do this is to stop in villages and buy the fish from the locals. A few of the group went with Miguel to visit these villages. The first was one that Janot had visited five years ago, a friend of Miguel’s. He had no fish but was very welcoming and let us explore his village. A few years ago, this family came across a jaguar catching and eating their dog in their kitchen!
At another community we were able to get a catfish, from a small pond were they keep their catch. Young children ran around in barely any clothes and no shoes, smiling, laughing and annoying each other as all siblings do! There was a new gathering hall being built, and it just had the structure up. They don’t use nails, but instead lash together the pieces of wood in the traditional Indian way, using only vines, and it is still very strong.
After travelling through the afternoon we stopped at another village who were friends of Miguel’s , Uacara, to dock at over night, and we will explore more on land here tomorrow.
~Team Amazon
