What happens when you mix a crack unit of former Special Forces and military personnel, the coolest high tech
tactical equipment in the world and a passion to protect our environment? It’s James Bond meets Captain Planet
– or as they like to be called, The Operatives.
countries, has a number of marine protected areas (MPA’s)
around the coastline.
Illegal fishing is like a plague for this small country, which is
sandwiched between Nicaragua and Panama, with the Pacific
Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Much of the work over the three month period focused on
the MPA’s, and they spent many days and nights observing
and filming fishing activities around them.
The goal of The Operatives, an offshoot of Earthrace, is to
capture and prosecute poachers and environmental criminals
and expose their atrocities to the world.
The team has already completed a three month mission in
Costa Rica which involved catching illegal fishing boats in
marine protected areas, gold mining, shark finning, and sea
turtle protection.
Even with high tech
tools
including
drones, Paramotor,
rebreathers and the
Sealegs amphibian,
Costa Rica pushed
the elite team to their
limits
All the action was filmed and the footage has now been
edited into a nine episode reality series for television which
will air first in New Zealand later this year.
Costa Rica, which in many respects, has an enviable
environmental record compared with neighbouring
Footage obtained by
Earthrace from Sealegs
and from on board suspected lllegal fishing vessels was passed to relevant authorities. Pete will
return to Costa Rica soon
to meet with them and
present further evidence
that will allow more prosecutions.
Partners against crime
The Operatives worked closely
with many people during the mission, in particular the
Ministry of Environment, Energy and Oceans of Costa Rica
(MINAE), and Pretoma, a Costa Rican non-profit that
focuses on marine conservation and research working to
protect ocean resources and promote sustainable fishing
policies in Costa Rica and Central America.
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