Sea Shepherd is international marine wildlife conservation organization. They use direct action tactics to protect marine life, for example disturbing whale vessels and seizure and destruction of drift nets. One of their ships, the Sam Simon, embarked in Antwerp for a couple of days and was open for public visits. I visited the ship with a Dutch friend earlier in the week (review with many more pics of the Sam Simon will follow here).
On that visit, I gave a donation to Sea Shepherd, and as such entered the lottery to win a dinner for two on Saturday evening on board the ship, with the crew and Tom Waes. As it is with lotteries, one never expects to win … But this time, I did! 🙂 I got a call on Saturday afternoon and of course I gladly accepted the dinner invitation for two.

‚Sea Shepherd’s Sam Simon in Antwerp

We had the opportunity to talk to the crew and some volunteers from Sea Shepherd Belgium. And we also met Tom Waes (Belgian actor, director and TV-presentor), who is an ambassador for Sea Shepherd and Captain Alex Cornelissen (CEO of Sea Shepherd Global). We talked about veganism, animal rights, life on board. Why for example heated toilet seats do make a difference when you are sailing around Antarctica! Cook Erica showed me the different pantries where they keep all the food, most of it coming on board through donations. Dinner this evening was prepared by ‘t Kraaienest though, and of course all vegan!

Group photo with other winners of the lottery, and captain Alex Cornelissen, Tom Waes and his wife Mieke Morel (photo via Instagram of Captain Alex Cornelissen)

Tom Waes and dinner menu

Carrot soup with coconut and ginger

main dish

dessert

drinks (no alcohol on board the ship)

catering by ‘t Kraaienest

‘t Kraaienest

Inside the Sam Simon, Sea Shepherd, Antwerp

It was a very interesting evening. Thanks Sea Shepherd for all the hard work and good luck on future missions!

More pics of my visit to the Sam Simon will follow in another blogpost.

Je kan deze post ook HIER in het Nederlands lezen op mijn andere blog

Sea Shepherd Global: http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/

Sea Shepherd Belgium: http://www.seashepherd.be/nl/

The Sam Simon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MY_Sam_Simon

The Cove: http://www.thecovemovie.com/

Dinner on board the Sam Simon in Antwerp

The Sam Simon in Antwerp