Across the planet eco-systems are in a dire state. Many believe a mass extinction is under way, the sixth since life first started in the primeval melting pot billions of years ago.

This chilling fact adds a surging piquancy to the moment when you stand on the deck of an icebreaker and stare out over the vast, remote wilderness that is the Weddell Sea, a huge expanse of icy ocean fringing the Antarctic continent. 

It is the coldest sea on Earth, indeed it is the cold water heart of the planet, pumping and driving the deep water currents that circulate around the world’s oceans – a crucial mechanism that helps regulate our climate systems. 

Here too exists a spectacular festival of life. It is the realm of blue whales and orcas, of leopard seals and penguins and myriad marine animals, of thousands of species yet to be discovered. It is not yet the realm of man. And many want to keep it that way.

Antarctic expedition

In February this year I joined a Greenpeace expedition to the western edge of the Weddell Sea on board the icebreaker the Arctic Sunrise. On board marine scientists were collecting scientific evidence to back the proposal to create what would be the largest protected area on Earth, five times the size of Germany.  

The proposal aims to ring fence almost two million square kilometres of these rich waters, restricting commercial fishing and other human activity including any future attempt to mine the seabed or drill for oil.

Dr Susanne Lockhart of the California Academy of Sciences journeyed down to the ocean floor in the expedition submarine.

“We encountered seabed communities that were highly complex, consisting of ancient corals and sponges that provide habitat and shelter for an incredibly rich diversity of marine life,” Lockhart said. “It is imperative this area is protected.”

The proposal has been put forward by the European Union. But for it to come into effect it has to win consensus at the end of this week from all 25 members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, currently meeting in the Australian city of Hobart. The commission was set up to protect the seas around the Antarctic.

Will McCallum, the lead oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, has spent the past year galvanising support for the bid. As the commission meeting opened he handed in a petition with two million signatures in favour of the sanctuary.

“We have an opportunity to protect a rare area of ocean wilderness while it is still in a near pristine state,” McCallum said. “The Antarctic Ocean Commission has given itself the mandate to create this large-scale network of protected areas. We believe the Weddell Sea proposal is absolutely filling that mandate.”

Biological richness

On board the Arctic Sunrise, we ploughed through the sea ice to remote, isolated waters where few ships venture. Where biological richness and diversity is comparable to tropical reefs, where nature is on a planetary scale. 

You can see why commercial fishing nations with interests in the Southern Ocean, such as Russia, China and Norway, might want a piece of the action.

But research shows whenever well-managed ocean sanctuaries are in place, there is more diverse and more abundant marine life, both inside protected waters and with spillovers outside.

Which means sustainable fisheries can be managed beyond the protected areas, good news for the commercial fishing fleet and for global food security.

Which begs the question, why wouldn’t this sanctuary proposal be passed without debate?

National interests

Global environmental imperatives do not always measure up to  perceived national interests. And for any proposal to pass at the commission, it needs a unanimous ‘yes’ vote. China and Russia blocked a similar proposal for East Antarctica in 2017 and it’s feared the same could happen this year.

Already there are reports of ugly disagreements and stalling, with some saying now the Weddell Sea proposal has come to the table, it has little chance of success.  However, there was also doubt and pessimism in 2016 when out-of-the-blue consensus was reached for a similar sanctuary in Antarctica’s Ross Sea.

If the proposal is blocked, the role of the Antarctic Commission itself may come into question. Its job is to protect the continent’s seas, which no single country controls, and ensure they do not become a free for all. 

In 2011, the commission agreed to create a network of Marine Protected Areas throughout the Southern Ocean by 2020. As it stands near the end of 2018, a mere two have been designated.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night again invoked the mass shooting at a synagogue to slam the news media, opening a campaign rally in Florida by telling a vocal crowd that coverage of his visit to Pittsburgh the day before was “fake and make-believe.”

Trump paid a solemn visit to the city on Tuesday in the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, which left 11 dead. The president said that despite a “small protest,” he and first lady Melania Trump were treated very kindly during their visit but that the media did not accurately reflect how they were received.

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“After this day of unity and togetherness, I came home and, sadly, turned on the news and watched as the far-left media once again used tragedy to sow anger and division,” Trump said. “Sadly, they took a small group of protesters [who were] far away from where we were. We could not have been treated better, the first lady and myself.”

“But we’re representing the presidency, and [the media] did everything in their power to try to play it up and push people apart,” he added. “That’s what’s happening. They’re pushing people apart.”

Trump posted a similar sentiment on Twitter earlier Wednesday, saying: “The Office of the President was shown great respect on a very sad & solemn day. We were treated so warmly. Small protest was not seen by us, staged far away. The Fake News stories were just the opposite-Disgraceful!”

“When we talk about division, this is a big part of it — that division right there,” Trump continued at the rally in Fort Myers. “The far-left media has spread terrible lies and stories about the Trump administration and the tens of millions of people who make up our great movement, the greatest political movement in the history of our country.”

Trump also said that while journalists had been critical of his administration’s efforts for nearly two years, it was unfortunate that the media were seen as the “enemy” by so many people.

“We have forcefully condemned hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice in all of its ugly forms, but the media doesn’t want you to hear your story,” he said at the rally. “It’s not my story, it’s your story. And that’s why 33 percent of the people in this country believe the fake news is, in fact — and I hate to say this — in fact, the enemy of the people.”

Trump did make a point to compliment some “very good” people in the media, directing his attention to reporters at the back of the room.

“I have to say this” he added. “You have some very good people also as reporters and journalists. I know some incredible people. You have some that are not good at all. You have some very good people. I want to say that. You have some very good people.”

With less than a week until the midterm elections, Wednesday’s event was part of an eight-state, 11-rally effort to garner votes for Republican candidates on Election Day next week.

Florida is home to two highly publicized races, one for a Democratic-held Senate seat and the other for governor. Trump used the rally to again voice his support for former Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis in his gubernatorial run against Democrat Andrew Gillum, who currently serves as mayor of Tallahassee.

Trump also endorsed Republican Gov. Rick Scott in the tight Senate contest against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Image: Chesnot/Getty Images

Tonala, Chiapas, Mexico – Resting in the shade of a row of trees, Orvelina Lizeth Melendez reached into her purse, pulled out a small, clear plastic bag and carefully removed her husband’s death certificate. The tattered paper travelled nearly 1400km with her from her hometown of Tegucigalpa, Honduras to Tonala in Chiapas, Mexico.

“They killed him right in front of me,” Melendez said, recalling the moment gang members burst into her family’s home more than three years ago.

Melendez was pregnant and she and her four children were at home asleep at the time.

The death certificate includes very little information. Fredis de Jesus Ferrera Lemus. Age 31. National identification number. Parent’s names. Date and location of death. The cause of death is listed as “violent”, and underneath it, the document briefly expands on the cause, stating that it was craneofacial trauma from a gunshot wound.

But the document could become vitally important as she makes her way to the US border to apply for asylum.  

Melendez is one of thousands of Honduran and other Central American migrants and refugees on a US-bound caravan currently in southern Mexico. 

She has no idea why her husband, a garbage truck worker, was killed, and she does not expect to ever know. Ninety percent of homicides in Honduras go unsolved.

“It was left at that. When you’re poor, deaths remain in impunity. It is a very dangerous neighbourhood,” Melendez said.

Violence, poverty, health

Many Hondurans are fleeing violence, whether it is gang related, political, or for other reasons. Many are also looking to leave a life of poverty and unemployment. And some migrants and refugees are fleeing because they or their children suffer from disabilities or health conditions that require attention they are unable to obtain in Honduras.

Melendez left for all three of those reasons. Her brother Jimy, who is also travelling with the group, suffers from speech and hearing problems. The cause is unknown and gang members have been trying to recruit the 28-year-old. 

One of Melendez’s sons also has special needs due to a primary immunodeficiency health condition, diagnosed two years ago. Now six years old, Joshua Eliel Ferrera Melendez has juvenile onset Still’s disease. A form of systemic arthritis with no known cause, the disease affects the entire body, sometimes including internal organs.

Along with her husband’s death certificate, Melendez also carries a clinical summary of Joshua’s condition and treatment.

The main reason I am travelling today: to give my children a better life and to better feed my family in Honduras.

Orvelina Lizeth Melendez , Honduran asylum seeker

There is no known cure for Still’s disease, but managing the condition requires ongoing treatment. Joshua requires several medications, but the main treatment is human immunoglobulins administered intravenously every month at the hospital. Manufactured from blood plasma, immunoglobulins contain antibodies Joshua lacks.

“My son is very special and I do not have the means to give him the medications. The medicines are very expensive,” Melendez said, her voice slightly cracking.

Melendez was forced to leave Joshua, along with three of her other children, with her mother. She said there’s no chance he would have survived the journey.

For Melendez, finding work in the US is the best option for making enough money to support her family and provide for Joshua’s care. 

Hospital Escuela, the public hospital where Joshua receives his treatment, has been chronically understaffed and under-equipped for years. The building leaks, it is nearly always over capacity and patients and their relatives often have to go elsewhere to purchase medications and basic supplies for procedures, including syringes.

Sometime Hospital Escuela has the human immunoglobulins Joshua needs, but sometimes it does not. Each monthly treatment is $830 and the hospital asks Melendez to pay for a quarter of the cost.

Although doctors and social workers sometimes help with the cost, Melendez questioned how a single mother of five was supposed to earn $200 for treatment, in addition to providing for her family.

“That’s the main reason I am travelling today: to give my children a better life and to better feed my family in Honduras,” she said.

‘We’re not criminals’

Melendez, along with her other family members in the caravan, including Jimy, have heard bits and pieces of US President Donald Trump administration’s characterisation of the migrant caravan, as well as the measures the US government is taking to stop them from crossing the border from Mexico. 

Earlier this week, the administration announced more than 5,000 US military troops are being sent to the border in preparation of the caravan. Trump said on Wednesday that number could grow to more than 15,000.

Those troops will likely meet a fraction of the caravan participants, most of whom are only carrying a small bag on a their back. Melendez brought a small bag and now also has a few things stashed in the back of a stroller donated along the way. Most of her belongings, including the stroller, are to clothe and care for her four-year-old daughter she brought with her.

The caravan is also still more than 1,000km away. And those who do make it, plan on applying for asylum at an official port of entry.

Despite the threat, Melendez and most of the others are undeterred.

“We are not criminals. We are not going to commit crimes. We just want to go work,” she said.

“We are going to continue. We are going to head north.”