Michael Reppy: Sailing for the Dolphins
10Dec
By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
We have many volunteers for our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign who often go to great lengths to help save dolphins and whales. But none have gone farther than sailor and volunteer Michael Reppy, who is out to set a new solo sailing record from San Francisco to Tokyo, flying his main sail with our Save Japan Dolphins logo!
For those of you counting, that is an incredible 5,700 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean. The current record from 1992 is 34 days, 6 hours, and some minutes.
Michael aims to beat that. In the process, he plans to use the record in Japan to promote an end to the killing of dolphins and small whales in Taiji.
He’s made several attempts, coming in once at 36 days to Japan.
Michael has been working with his various boats for several years, always using his vessels to promote the protection of dolphins and whales. He joined me in Tokyo in September and visited Taiji for several days with other volunteers.
He’s planning his sail to Japan aboard his boat Dolphin Spirit next spring. We salute his efforts and wish him well on his trip – breaking such an important oceanic record, all by himself, will certainly bring dolphins into the public eye in Japan in a unique and peaceful manner.
You can learn more about Michael’s efforts by going to his web page:
