Our Backyard Summer 2014 Summer 2014 | Page 14

WhaleFest is the world’s biggest event of its kind - a not-for-profit festival that reminds every one of us just why we love whales, dolphins and ocean life so much. It’s huge fun and thousands of people come from all over the world to take part.
 In 2014, it took place in Brighton, UK over two days in March. And we were there, sharing space with the amazing Daryl Farmer of Rowing 4 Reefs together with his incredible boat, Bojangles. Daryl was preparing for a huge challenge—to row single-handed from California to Hawaii. More people have walked on the moon than have made that trip! He was doing it to raise money for Earthrace and for the Peter Andre Foundation for Kidney Cancer. You’ll have to wait for the next issue of OUR BACKYARD to find out what happened though! Around 10,000 people of all ages visited Whale Fest this year, among them a raft of celebrities including Virginia McKenna, ex-Sea World trainer Samantha Berg, Steve Backshaw, Dr Ingrid Visser, Rob Pilley from the BBC’s 'Spy in the Pod' and of course, our own Pete Bethune. The weekend started with an orca ‘release’ representing ‘Morgan’ who is currently held in captivity in Loro Parque, Tenerife and has been at the centre of a series of court cases as part of the Free Morgan campaign. Virginia McKenna Samantha Berg 14 Steve Backshaw We brought all 5,500 crosses in our art installation, ‘Captivity Kills’, to Whale Fest