Row across the Atlantic – ready to start to save the Baltic porpoise
After one and a half years of preparation Sören Kjellkvist and Måns Kämpe are now going to row across The Atlantic, with the start planned for December 14’th 2021 from the small harbour town of Lagos in Portugal.
The Row across The Atlantic is estimated to take about 3 months, the distance is more than 6000 km, which means over 3 million oar strokes, and their goal is to reach the tropical islands of the Caribbean.
Måns and Sören share a deep involvement for the oceans, and with this expedition they want to bring out the big questions about the oceans and the conditions for all life in them. It feels extra important to increase awareness of how dependent we are on life in the oceans, how humans destroy this and what we should be doing to turn this development around to let the oceans heal, recover and prosper again.
“The Baltic Harbour Porpoise is the Baltic’s own whale, but it is urgently close to extinction and red listed with only a few hundred individuals left” says Sören Kjellkvist.
Måns Kämpe adds: “Political decisions and specific changes need to happen soon, this should have been done a long time ago. Sweden’s lack of action has been criticized by the EU commission”.
Ida Carlén, expert at Coalition Clean Baltic, comments:“We work on demanding the changes required to allow the Baltic Harbour Porpoise to survive and stabilize, and the collaboration with Måns and Sören gives us a chance to bring this issue to a broader audience. A lot of people are not even aware that there is a species of whale in the Baltic, and that it is so close to extinction.”
During the expedition Måns and Sören will write daily reports, with updates about the row as well as facts and information about the Baltic Harbour Porpoise. Their goal is to raise awareness and help establish the decisions and actions required to save the only species of whale in the Baltic Sea.
The PR in Swedish is available here.
Read all about the adventure here or in their blog: https://sorenkjellkvist.se/ro-over-atlanten/
