Lewis Pugh’s swim across a frozen whale graveyard
The endurance swimmer carrying out swim-trunk diplomacy
Humanity refuses to learn from near extinction events in the past – and it could put our future at risk, endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has told the BBC.
The 53-year-old UN Patron of the Oceans carries out death-defying swims – through Antarctica, the Arctic, the Southern Ocean and more - to focus attention on the damaging impact of climate change on the planet.
He told of seeing the disastrous impact of humans when he swam at Deception Island in the Antarctic – next to an old whaling station.
“Underneath me were whale bones, piled high: rib bones, spine bones, jaw bones, 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of them,” said Mr Pugh.
“We came within an inch of pushing the whale into extinction.”
“Now we're going for the Antarctic toothfish and taking them and now we're even going to the tiniest life down there on which everything relies - krill.”
“We have to know when it's time to stop and to protect these areas.”
Lewis Pugh’s next challenge is to swim the length of the Hudson River. It runs for more than 500km with rapids, sharp rocks, venomous snakes, industrial pollutants and sewage all among the hazards the swimmer will have to navigate, he told HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur.
He plans to finish in New York city in September when the UN General Assembly is in session. There he will advocate for greater protections for rivers and the oceans.
