lifestyle, travel This is Cozumel

 

Although cruise ships are a common sight, it's not often islanders get to see a polar icebreaker docked in Cozumel.

But last week, that's exactly what they saw, as the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, welcomed locals and tourists aboard for an "open boat" at the downtown pier.

The environmental activists' 163 foot vessel was in Mexico to support the group's work at the United Nations' COP16 climate change conference in Cancun, which has been underway since November 29 and concludes today.

En route to the important international forum, the Arctic Sunrise stopped at the island for a few days to help educate locals about the importance of looking after Mother Nature.

During the brief visit, more than 1,200 people went aboard, the majority were children from local schools and colleges.

Greenpeace's passionate crew took great pleasure in explaining how the organization and its icebreaker work.

An Arctic Sunrise volunteer said, "We work as a team to try to create awareness among those that visit us, regardless of their age, ideology, skin color or origin."

 

Cozumel environment
Volunteers onboard.

After a successful stop in Cozumel the ship was accompanied by the Mexican navy to its next port of call, Isla Mujeres, another Mexican island near Cancun.

Cozumel Arctic Sunrise
Passionate crew.

 

Representatives from Greenpeace went on to make an "underwater protest" near Cancun.

They free-dived among human statues on the seabed to highlight the fact that real people can't live underwater, and that action needs to be taken against climate change to reduce rising sea levels.

Aside from the risk of rising water, Greenpeace also say that Caribbean Sea temperatures could rise by as much as 2°C by 2030, which could provoke more hurricanes in the region - food for thought for locals and visitors to the island.

For more information visit the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website, or learn more about campaigning on Greenpeace's website.