The Polar Pioneer is still sitting in Terminal 5, ready to depart between the middle and the end of the month. On Friday, Seattle kayaktivists tried protesting it with feeling, launching luminaries into the night sky next to a sign that read, "LOVE WINS."
Parents brought their kids; artists brought towering tulip installations and handcrafted salmon-shaped lanterns on sticks. Local rapper Sol performed on the problem-plagued Solar Pioneer, the protest barge stationed in Elliott Bay. Cecile Hansen, chairwoman of the still federally unrecognized Duwamish tribe, spoke over the Solar Pioneer's PA system, too, as did kid climate activists from the local Plant for the Planet chapter.
Kayaktivists on Friday night attempted a different tactic than some of the protesters who took action over the weekend. Those activists tried blocking shift changes at Terminal 5, but it's unclear if, or how well, they succeeded. Meanwhile, the city, Terminal 5 lessee Foss Maritime, and the port are still sorting through the muck of an appeal about the Arctic drilling rig's right to be there. The state Department of Natural Resources has also weighed in, telling Shell that blocking part of the adjacent public waterway for too long could violate the state constitution. Last week, Shell wrote back to the DNR, telling the state that it intended to stay at Terminal 5, legally, until the fleet leaves.