Sir Peter Blake and the Environment

Peter's sailing life started in Bayswater in Auckland, New Zealand, in the 1950s where his backyard was the harbour filled with mangroves, bird and fish life. His childhood holidays were spent aboard a boat, camping and exploring and he developed a love, a sense of awe and appreciation for the natural world as he grew up.

Sailing holidays are about the journey more than the destination and Peter's parents encouraged him to appreciate the environment through bird and fish identification activities. He kept this love of the creatures of the sea throughout his life. No matter what was happening on the boat or how tired he might have been he always took time to watch the albatrosses and whales he encountered while sailing around the world.

As a sailor you have to have a real feel for the elements - the wind, waves and tides - and Peter had a unique connection with them, understanding that the power of nature was awesome and with due respect, could be harnessed. Peter was a natural when it came to reading the weather and loved all the old traditions.

Earth is a water planet on which the quality of water defines the quality of life. Good water, good life. Poor Water, poor life. No water, no life.”

— Sir Peter Blake

His environmental focus crystallised around his observations of albatrosses. When he began doing round the world races they were plentiful and over the years he observed their numbers diminish significantly. He connected this with the deterioration of our oceans and became determined to do something about it.

Having achieved all his major sailing goals, and because he felt he had gained so much from his career at sea, he wanted to give something back. He didn't want to see the albatross disappear from our skies altogether and he was determined to pour his energies into building public awareness of the threats facing the environment, particularly water.

After considering a role with the Cousteau Society he struck out to create his own organisation - Blakexpeditions. He planned a five year series of visits to key waterways of the world to draw attention to their plight and raise awareness regarding their importance to our lives.

Sir Peter was made a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Special Envoy in July 2001 and while visiting the Antarctic he commented in a speech to the UN:

“Earth is a water planet on which the quality of water defines the quality of life,” Sir Peter explained. “Good water, good life. Poor water, poor life. No water, no life.”