Greenpeace expedition leader Frida Bengtsson holds up a banner reading: “Protect the Oceans” in front of fishing gear found on islands in the South Shetlands of Antarctica, stored on Greenpeace ship, Esperanza.
Fishing gear can be lost by accident or abandoned at sea deliberately. Once there, nets and lines can pose a threat to wildlife for many years.
Greenpeace is in the Antarctic to investigate the impacts of the climate crisis as part of the Protect the Oceans Expedition, a year long pole to pole ship tour, campaigning for the establishment of ocean sanctuaries to safeguard this frozen region and its penguins, seals and whales, and to help address the climate emergency.

(This picture was taken in 2020 during the Antarctic leg of the Pole to Pole expedition under the Dutch permit number RWS-2019/40813)