Some finds at sea come from training, others from instinct—
and every so often, one comes down to pure chance. After a routine resupply, the Bob Barker was heaving anchor in the Sea of Cortez when something unexpected broke the surface.
Tangled on the anchor’s fluke—the curved arm designed to dig into the seabed—was a ghost net. Fittingly, the shape of the fluke echoes the tail of a whale, and in this case, it surfaced carrying a grim reminder of what lies below.
Ghost nets are abandoned or lost fishing gear, drifting through the ocean like silent killers. They continue to trap and kill marine life long after they’re discarded—entangling fish, sea turtles, birds, even dolphins and whales.
The crew acted fast, securing the net and bringing it aboard using the anchor winch. It was a stroke of luck—but a deeply sobering one.
This marked the Bob Barker’s very first ghost net retrieval. Not from an active search, but by accident. And that’s exactly the point. The waters of the Sea of Cortez are saturated with these deadly traps. What hides beneath the surface isn’t rare—it’s relentless.
As Sea Shepherd expands operations beyond the Zero Tolerance Area in partnership with the Mexican Navy, our crews are uncovering more of these nets every day—caught in reefs, drifting through protected zones, killing indiscriminately. This region is a battlefield, and every net removed is one less threat to life.
Help us keep pulling them out.
Sea Shepherd is the only organization maintaining a permanent ship-based presence in these waters. Our crews are trained, equipped, and committed—but we can’t do it alone.
Join the fight.
