US ‘kayaktivists’ attempt to blockade oil rig at Seattle port

Environmentalists protest Shell’s giant oil rig and try to stop it from going to the Arctic.

Activists reignited protests against Shell’s plan to drill for oil in the Arctic as The Polar Pioneer, Shell’s giant drill rig, attempted to leave a port in Seattle for the Chukchi Sea in Alaska on Monday. The giant oil rig arrived at The Port of Seattle in mid-May to prepare for oil exploration in the Arctic, after the Obama administration approved Shell’s plans.

Early Monday morning, protesters in kayaks formed a human chain in front of the Polar Pioneer in an effort to block its departure. Around a dozen ‘kayaktivists’ paddled out into the water at 4:00 am and formed a blockade with about 40 supporters in kayaks and canoes behind them.