A BASQUE expedition dedicated to protection of the marine environment has made its first port of call in Galway on a voyage bound for north of the Arctic Circle.
The Pakea Bizkaia was welcomed into Galway docks this week by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, which is a partner with the Basque organisation in monitoring whale and dolphin activity in European waters.
It will sail north today via Carraroe, where it will be escorted off the Connemara coast by a fleet of Galway hookers.
Pakea Bizkaia is both the name of the 20m yacht and of the four-year environmental project, which has been sponsored by the Basque country’s provincial council and a regional bank.
The project participants aim to carry out one expedition annually over four years, making contact with local groups and institutions concerned with biodiversity and “urban sustainability”.
The yacht’s skipper, Unai Basurko, is a professional competitive sailor who has completed two solo round-the-world races, the Vendee Globe and BOC or Velux 5 Challenge, and has logged up more than 80,000 miles at sea in the past four years.
“When you race around the world, you don’t really see anything properly,“Basurko said in Galway yesterday.
“I think this will be a far more rewarding way to travel.” The yacht set off from the Basque port of Bilbao just a week ago, making its first stop in Galway en route to Nordkapp (the North Cape) in the Norwegian Finnmark region above the Arctic Circle, and then east to the Dutch coast before returning south.
On the yacht’s return to the Basque country in October, school students will be invited on board to hear of the expedition’s experiences – and to study how the sailors made best use of solar and wind power during their voyage.
The group also hopes to share its experiences with senior citizens, people with disabilities and people at risk of social exclusion, according to its educational co-ordinator Andrea Ruiz. It will then plan its second of four voyages – this time to Patagonia and Antarctica.
Whale and dolphin group co-ordinator Dr Simon Berrow said that the yacht’s visit to Galway highlighted once more how the west coast port was establishing a reputation for diverse marine activity.
Galway is to be host city for the European Cetacean Society conference in March 2012, several months before the Volvo Ocean Race returns to the port for the second time.