Transparentsea Voyage - Day 1

Dave Rastovich, pro surfer and environmental campaigner, drags his 'trimaran' to the water's edge at Byron Bay to begin an epic 36 day voyage to Sydney. Image by: LouiseBeaumont.com
(Thursday, October 1st, Byron Bay, Australia): A large crowd of well-wishers gathered on Byron Bays Main Beach this morning to show their support for five daring environmental campaigners who have begun a 36 day voyage by sea to Sydney to highlight the plight of migrating humpback whales and to draw awareness to coastal pollution issues.
Dubbed Transparentsea, the odyssey is an initiative of professional surfer Dave Rastovich, an environmental crusader who is joined on his quest by Californian surfer and artist Chris Del Moro (San Diego, CA, USA), Musician Will Conner (AUS), Photographer Hilton Dawe (Byron Bay, NSW, AUS) and Surfrider Foundations Kristy Theissling (Coolangatta, QLD, AUS).
Paddling single-seat trimaran sea kayaks, the participants will use only the wind and the waves to assist them on their journey, as they trace the migration paths of the whales destined for the Southern Ocean.
During their frequent stops along the East Coast, the team will also engage local communities to assist in beach clean-ups, as well as highlighting and recording other areas of environmental concern including the effects of the commercial fishing industry on marine mammals and fish stocks; run-off issues to do with agricultural, domestic and industrial human activities; and the state of rivers and estuaries.
Its a great honour to be here from California representing such a great cause and the organisation Surfers for Cetaceans, said Del Moro.
Im just stoked to see Australians have such an incredible support for environmental issues, especially water and ocean related issues and the fight against whaling and dolphin hunts. In the States we have a lot of people who are really fired up, but here it seems like whole communities are coming out. Everyones really given us their support; it feels like a