‘Paddle in Seattle’ protesters gather against Shell oil rig

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They joined more than 200 other boats Saturday for Paddle in Seattle, a flotilla organized by a coalition of environmental groups, activists and tribal leaders from around the country to demonstrate concern about the impact of fossil-fuel consumption on climate change and to show disappointment in the Port of Seattle’s decision to host Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet.

“We are building a movement, and this is how it starts,” said Renny Reep, one of Seattle’s Raging Grannies, who stayed on land with hundreds of other activists for Saturday’s events.

“We just have to stop Shell Oil,” she said.

The Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 has been the center of an environmental and political standoff since the Port commission announced in January that Foss Maritime would lease the vacant terminal to use as a home base for Shell’s fleet during the winter months.

The rig is the biggest piece of Shell’s 25-vessel fleet in the Pacific Northwest that is set to resume its controversial oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s North Slope. Company officials view that area as one of the world’s top prospects for a major oil find.

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