Episode 17 - Podcast Panel - Combatting Ghost Gear

The WeWhale Pod

This special panel episode of The WeWhale Pod focuses on the problem of ghost gear in our waters and ways to combat it. Our guests are:

• Harry Dennis and Gavin Parker, co-founders of Waterhaul, a social enterprise based in Cornwall in the UK that recycles abandoned marine nets into high quality products
• Sophie Lewis, Interim CEO of the World Cetacean Alliance
• Tom Mustill, biologist turned filmmaker and author of How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communications. Tom is also an Ambassador for the World Cetacean Alliance.

The panel chats about what ghost gear is and how it affects whales and other wildlife all over the planet. Every year, hundreds of thousands of cetaceans are trapped in ghost gear — lost or discarded fishing equipment that drifts through our oceans like a deadly web.
The guests also discuss the process of disentanglement and how changes in the fishing industry (namely a move to plastic gear in recent decades) have contributed to the global problem of ghost gear.
In September 2023, a humpback whale became entangled in fishing gear in Algoa Bay, South Africa, and was fighting for his life. Thankfully, after a rescue operation, he was freed and able to swim away. The ghost gear was recovered and through collaborative links with the World Cetacean Alliance, made its way to Waterhaul, which saw an opportunity to create something unique from this near-tragedy.
A limited range of sunglasses, made from this recovered ghost gear, is available to purchase. You can check them out, along with more about the rescue operation, on the Waterhaul website.
And learn more about the World Cetacean Alliance.

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