Sea Shepherd security officer Jeffrey Milstein (l-r), pilot Christopher Aultman and Capt. Paul Watson stand in the hangar of the Sea Shepherd’s ship, the Steve Irwin, with the drone Nicole Montecalvo, donated by Bayshore Recycling Corp. of Woodbridge. The drone helped intercept a Japanese whaling fleet on Dec. 25 before any whales were killed. PHOTO COURTESY OF BARBARA VEIGA WOODBRIDGE — Bayshore Recycling Corp’s donated drone, the Nicole Montecalvo, helped the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) catch a Japanese whaling fleet on Dec. 25 before any whales were killed.
Bayshore’s long-range drone, which is an unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly independently or be operated remotely, is fitted with cameras and detection equipment to support SSCS’s mission in marine wildlife conservation.
It was released by the Sea Shepherd ship the Steve Irwin, and will now help track and follow the Japanese factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, which was able to escape interception on Christmas Day. The drone will also assist in helping protect the fleet, its crew and alert them to potential dangers during the chase.
“Bayshore Recycling Corp’s mission is to help preserve the planet and its precious natural resources through conservation, recycling and maximum use of renewable energy,” said Bayshore President Valerie Montecalvo. “It is our honor to assist noteworthy organizations such as SSCS in their endeavor to save wildlife and endangered habitats for future generations. To quote Steve Irwin, ‘I am a wildlife warrior … my job, my mission and the reason I have been put on this planet, is to save wildlife.’ In some small but meaningful way, we hope that our company can help carry on his mission.”
To promote and encourage Bayshore’s conservation efforts, the owners of the Woodbridge-based company donated the drone to the Steve Irwin in May 2011 to aid and assist in locating Japanese whaling fleets — which are commonly featured on The Animal Planet’s show “Whale Wars” — in protected sanctuaries and blue fin tuna poaching operations off the coast of Libya as a part of the “Operation Divine Wind” campaign to protect the world’s oceans.