SYDNEY, Feb 8, 2019 – Vera Blue has released her new single ‘Like I Remember You’ along with its official music video, shot on board Greenpeace’s flagship vessel the Rainbow Warrior.The 25-year-old Sydney-based singer/songwriter said she was proud to collaborate with Greenpeace Australia Pacific to raise awareness of the catastrophic risk that deepsea oil drilling and seismic blasting pose to the Great Australian Bight.
“The Bight is one of Australia’s many hidden wonders. It’s deeply upsetting that this beautiful region and its unique marine life, like southern right whales, are directly threatened by deafening seismic blasting in the misguided search for oil,” Blue said.
“The entirety of the whales’ nursery will be blasted with the same air cannons that we see travelling up the east coast each year, and we know that an oil spill in the Bight could wash up on beaches as far away as Sydney.
“The Bight is home to more unique marine life than the Great Barrier Reef and it underpins the fishing and tourism industries, that sustain thousands of families. With dangerous oil drilling planned for next year and seismic blasting set to get underway as early as September, all of that is now at risk. Anyone who cares about the health of our oceans must urge their political leaders to step in and put a stop to this destructive plan.”
Vera Blue wrote ‘Like I Remember You’ with Julia Stone, frequent collaborators Andy and Thom Mak, and was produced by Andy Mak. The video clip was shot on board the Rainbow Warrior in Melbourne, in November last year. The clip intersperses shots of the artist on the Greenpeace vessel with underwater footage of the Bight, captured during the Rainbow Warrior’s recently-concluded ‘Make Oil History’ tour of the Great Australian Bight.
The clip also showcases the peaceful activities of the many coastal communities in South Australia, which oppose drilling in the Bight.
The video’s release comes after the announcement that seismic blasting is slated to take place in the Bight as early as September.
Seismic testing is a process used in the search for offshore oil and gas where underwater explosions are used to create intensely loud sound waves which can be up to 260 decibels, the equivalent of the epicentre of a hand grenade, and damaging or lethal to marine life nearby. [1]
“It’s deeply disappointing that the offshore oil regulator has chosen to ignore communities, the fishing industry, Traditional Owners and scientists, who have repeatedly warned of the need to protect the Bight from the catastrophic threat of deep sea oil drilling,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner, Nathaniel Pelle, said.
“Just the search for oil, let alone drilling, will have an irreversible effect on the ecology of the Bight and the unique marine life that inhabit it. The world needs to wean itself off oil not look for more. The Great Australian Bight is too precious to risk – the Government should cancel oil company permits and ban Bight drilling for good.”
Watch the video here
https://media.greenpeace.org/Share/g5yh4aob8ins6086tqaq7ww264r8k6rh
Notes:
[1] https://nicholas.duke.edu/about/news/nowacek-testifies-congress-impacts-seismic-activity-marine-life
For interviews:
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner, Martin Zavan
0424 295 422