This year somehow my volunteering projects are going very slow. Yet many things happening in a different direction.

1 - From Today 10 of my series will be broadcasted as Season 1 Series on ECOFLIX.
That's the funny AI banner they made, and they just published first Episode - watch.ecoflix.com/programs/be-…
Ecoflix - is a Non Profit Streaming platform, in the style of Netflix, but all of the revenue , 100% of it goes into Nature and Wildlife conservation. I am also not getting paid by them. Anyway I am quite happy to have my series there, as it's a place for people which already have interest in nature conservation. And also although there are subscriptions, you can watch everything for free there.

2 - We just got back from Climate Pact Conference in EU Commission in Brussels. We were traveling on a night train from Vienna to Brussels. 1100 km, yet it's the most green way to travel. I wish I would take trains much often going to the projects, but unfortunately the prices are insane for the min Europe. Return tickets for 2 persons costed us 650 euro! And it was standard cabin, not lux! It's 16 hours drive in one direction. Ryanair would cost us 100 euro. And only because organizers paid for our travel and wanted to choose the most green method we were able to take train. It's a shame to be honest, when there is such price difference. Regardless of how much I love earth and planet, if I have to pay myself I would taken airplane. Trains in Europe should be properly subsidized and offer affordable prices.

Anyway in EU Parliament we played a concert with the sound of the whales and dolphins we've been recording throughout last few years. + On a large screen I was showing many BBTA videos from our expeditions, and shoots of cetaceans and also shoots from Grind in Faroe Islands. I spoke about Ocean conservation, Cetaceans, threats to them, their conservation and what anyone can do. The were issues with the sound, they haven't done proper live stream and many things went wrong, but at the end we delivered the message and many people were touched by it. That's the most important. I will try to make a short video when I get some video files fro organizers.

3 - On 9th April in Montenegro there will be a movie night with 3 of my videos which I filmed with ngo DMAD in Turkey. They will be presentation about Cetaceans, their work and show 3 of mine videos

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videos.trom.tf/w/iV3zkgZRgXTRY…
Finally made a short "trailer" about the channel and what our series are about.

Some news and updates :
1 - The good news our videos will be published on Ecoflix - ecoflix.com/
It's kind of Netflix for nature and wildlife documentaries, most are about conservation and restoration. It's for free, and it's great. I won't get paid anything from them, as all of the profits are going to nature conservation projects it's a "no profit" platform. But maybe we will reach new people there. So I was buys preparing 10 episodes which will be season 1 from them

2 - At the end of March, me & Mara will be going to Brussels to perform a duo music performance with the sounds of the whales at the European Commission. There will be conference about Climate Change. And we will also speak about Oceans and Cetaceans.
We also not getting paid for that, but at least our expenses are covered since Brussels is very expensive. We will also take Night Train from Vienna. Which I am very curious about.

3 - While I've been in January in Latvia I've managed to appear at 2 radio shows, had long interview at Delfi.lv - largest news platform in Latvia, and in 2 TV shows on Latvian TV. All of it is in Latvian language, so I won't share it here, just some pictures. But it was good coverage. In all of the interviews I spoke about nature protection and volunteering.

5 - Meanwhile I am looking for other project to join and volunteer. Probably in March it will be Moldavia, then there are probably will be something in Montenegro and Serbia.

So actually quite a lot of things going on even if I am not actively volunteered these month. But winter is like this, there are not many projects at this period. Everything starts in spring.

I was a bit depressed and discouraged for the couple of months, but I can't give up, somehow we all need to keep going and doing good things in life even if sometimes it seems impossible or feels like there is no point.

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Hello in a new 2026 !

That's a super calm, almost like a lake Baltic sea. I was on a short trip in Latvia. IT was super freezing there, temperature was between -10 and -15 degrees. But I have done quite a lot during 3 days.
1) I filmed Baltic Sea and some shoots for my documentary.
2) Did Interview at radio NABA (students Radio station)
3) Interview at Latvian Radio, which was live , and in a program about hunting and fishing :) Which I did knew before. But everything went very good.
4) Had an interview with Latvian larges news portal Delfi LV - there will be big article about activities which I do. It will be out this Sunday.
5) Was filmed by National Latvian TV Channel in a program "Vides Fakti". It's a series about nature, wildlife, ecology and conservation. Very good program, and I am super happy to be in, and that they filmed me for the next series.
6) Filmed some video for another Latvian TV show for kids.

Some other plans for January :
I am still waiting for permission to release video from Turkey with Dolphins. Hopefully this days.
I need to finish video from Madeira - this week
Work more on documentary.
Next week we are going to Sweden, to film Eric, for almost final episode of the Documentary.

+ I am applying for some grants. I hope to receive at least 1 tiny grant this year. otherwise it's getting harder and harder keep going.

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As some of you may know, at our last project in Hungary I felt down from the canoe :)
(It was my stupid fault - sorry Max :) ) Max was with me in it at that time.
We were all soak wet, but while falling I lost my tiny camera which was attached to my chest.
I couldn't find it anymore, so it stayed there in Hungary, ehh, more plastic in the water.

Anyway because of support on Patreon I was able to order a new one. It was actually first time I took money from Patreon account and I ordered a replacement camera. The good thing I lost only 1 half of the camera :) So I have to order only this part which is black in the picture. And the white one is camera controller from my original camera.

So it's arrived this week, I paid 250 euro just for that tiny black thingy - half of camera. But it's very essential for the videos I do, and i like how small and easy to attach it is (and easy to lost:))

Anyway without people donating and supporting Be Brave To Act, I wouldn't be able to replace this camera. So Thank you everyone!

September Updates :
It's been quiet I was editing feature documentary and now will start editing Albania project about sharks by-catch. Because of the bad weather all the time I had to cancel 2nd trip there.
Also Mara's back was injured so we have to stay at home, but now she is doing much better and recovering, so everything will be fine with her.

Next week we are going to Warsaw Poland, Mara will be doing vocal workshops there, and I will join some local clean up actions because next weekend is a World Clean Up Day! So all around the world millions of people are going out to clean the environment, you can also find some local clean ups in your area if you want. worldcleanupday.org/

Then week after we are going to Croatia I am trying to arrange a project there with cat sharks, we have to scuba dive to deep places and monitor shark eggs. But I am not sure if it's going to happen, but we are going to Croatia anyway, if not this project I will try to join some other.
That's the plan for September.

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August started quite busy. First of all I've been in France in town Chamonix, that's next to the Mont Blanc - highest peak in EU.

We were at the glacier to have interview with a scientist which study glaciers but also create music with the sounds of the glaciers. That's for the documentary of 101 project inspiration101.org/ I am filming now

To be on a glacier was quite depressive :( Every year it shrinks so much.

Right after France we went to Hungary, where we spent the whole week in an super intense but amazing event. Trash boat race :)We build boat out of trash and were sailing for 5 days on the Tisza river. petkupa.hu/hu_HU/

that's the boat we have build :)We struggle a lot, but at the end 15 teams collected 8.5tonnes of garbage. INSANE!The bad thing ,I was flipped over on a canoe, my phone, my main camera and my small camera like a go pro went underwater. Phone now don't really charge, I will have to have a new one, super fortunately my main camera is all good and working, it's just microphone have some problem, but hopefully I will get trough it. BUT my mini camera (like a gopro) drown underwater :( with all footage.... SO I will have to buy a new one.

At the end it was quite expensive trip because of the lost and damaged gear and phone. But no regrets, all was worth it. (that's just from 1 day)After Hungary I had to rush to Germany, was driving almost 900km to the charity event .Again that's for 101 documentary, I was filming Aaron who collects musical instruments and send them to kids in Africa.

All of these instruments were donated :

Now I ma finally home, but still have to do few more projects in AugustIt's already 3rd time where I need to visit a project of Bald Ibisies, - Human led migration of birds. They teach birds to follow micro plane and they just started migration today, I hope in the next few days I will be able to catch them up and spend few days

I need to visit Albania to finish a project about Bycatch of sharks. Have some communication problems, but I hope I also will manage it at the first part of September.And I planned to visit one more project in Austria - Bird of Pray camp, hope to volunteer there for at least few days. + I need to edit videos, and documentary...super busy times.. Also autumn looks the same. So it's all good. All for the nature and wildlife...

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Thank you

Just got back from Ireland, we were taking a part in activities with "Irish Bees Conservation Project"

In this pic is traditional beekeeper, but our activities were about solitary bees, or wild bees. The one who don't make honey, but are much
more effective pollinators than a honey bees, therefore more important for biodiversity. But since there are no profit or advantage to be taking from them, they are often are forgotten.

In general it was busy week, and we've done a lot.
Mara was stung by the wild bees 2 times, luckily all is good.
And we were installing "solitary bee lodge posts" this things here, with a holes. That's houses for solitary bees.

We also stayed for free at this amazing Irish cottage in a pure country side. It belongs to the CEO of Irish Bees conservation project, and he allowed us to stay there, which was huge help for us, as Ireland is very expensive and also it mage all the logistics very simple as he was living just next door.

Also Ireland is about "Guinness" :) It's everywhere there, beer brand. We tried one alcohol free in Irish pub. It was ok... Interesting that looks like it's forbidden to advertise alcohol in Ireland, but everywhere billboards with beer breweries and beer brands advertising "non alcoholic" beer :)

Ireland also about countryside, everything is green, full of fields, cows and sheep.
This herd of young cows were super curious, cute, and playful. But it's also feels very sad and wrong, because in a few months time they all will be slaughtered. Average lifespan for them is only 8-10 months,before they get sent to slaughterhouse to maximize profits.

Ireland also about cliffs, and see. Amazingly beautiful views

And most importantly Ireland is about Tea with Biscuits and very friendly and chatty people
That's Pat, pouring us 15th cup of tea :) They also have hats for tea pots :)

I am back now, so will start to edit this video.
I Have a lot of other things to do also.
And we are preparing for few next conservation trips this month, one will be in Albania and 2nd one in Slovakia.

****** This type of posts I always publish on our Patreon page, if you would like to support our nature and wildlife conservation work, please join us on Patreon -patreon.com/c/BeBraveToAct

The project was actually in Netherlands. But it was very expensive to stay and fly there. Luckily we have a friend Matthias who lives in Belgium and it turned out that he is quite close to the Netherlands border. Matthias also our Patreon and super kind and generous guy, so we stayed at his place. Sometimes that's the only option to film and volunteer is to stay at friends and save as much as we can. Because otherwise it won't be possible to participate in a projects so frequently. Kind of similar to the life of underground musician :)

Anyway, we rented a tiny car in Charleroi airport, because there was no other way to get to the different locations in Netherlands + during the night.
It was ok, but super tiny :)

And during day we were at Matthias and Belgium and in the evenings went to Netherlands.

Traditional Belgium fries :) That's the way they do it, you order large portion, they put a lot of fries, really a lot of them in the tiny box. It was o much fries, we took them with us, and still couldn't finish them in 2 days :)

Mara really wanted to see tulips and we were driving around Zeeland (an area in Netherlands) to search for them, and we found them

Anyway the project was about Glass eels, and it's very complex situation and topic. We were fishing them with a net, then inject color tags on them and later release them back. In short their population had declined in Northern see for 99% !!!!!! In the last 40 or so years.

So we were on a mission to save them. It was night work, dirty, cold and slippery, but it was worth it.

So now I will start making the video, and meanwhile we have another projects lined up.
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That's the building of European commission, I would say one of the most important buildings in EU. And you can feel it, first of all you need to register way in advance before the event, they made you a pass for the day, and not only day but only for the specific hours of your visit.

The place feels like an airport, they have quite serious security and scanners like at any airport.

It's a huuuuuuuge building, I can't even imagine how many thousands of people works or present there every day.
Last week I was visiting it as I took a part in Climate Pact Conference there. I am climate pact ambassador of Latvia, and that was my first offline event at this position.
The whole building is full of artworks, paintings, sculptures and countless maze of halls.
By the way I wasn't allowed to freely walk there, there was always people who was making sure that we are staying only in the places we supposed to stay.

So yeah, quite fancy and stylish place.
During the day I attended several talks, discussions and panels. There were about 170 attendants, some like me ambassadors from other countries. It was a nice mix of various people from all possible backgrounds but all sharing the same passion and dedication for ecology. I've met marine biologists, actors, molecular scientists, photographers, politicians, business people, athletes, musicians, engineers. And I love the idea and the fact that each of them doing something trough their field their expertise for the climate.

I was sitting in such chair listening and participating in some climate related discussions. For example about online green washing or climate deniers online. How algorithms push conspiracy and anti climate change topics and so on.

All day was fun and good, they even served everyone vegetarian and vegan food. In fact it was only that, there was no meat or fish. Which is awesome.
So what I have learned and took for myself after whole day there ?
Well, honestly not much.... As soon as I left the event and was about to call Mara, I stopped and tried to realize, ok what should I tell her know. What was all this event about. And you know what. I couldn't remember anything... I was almost like blinded, someone erased my memory. During the day I heard so many politicians, MP's, presidents of all kinds of departments. They been talking, talking and talking. On a simple question they will give you 15 minute long answer, so while they are replying you already forgot what you been asking. And the end is always the same, it's Yes, but No. Or not Yes or not No. But since you already forgot the question and they speak so much with smart terminology you are just confused.

The main realization was that we have politicians only to speak. It's their job - speak. And that's it, they don't need to do much more, maybe vote :) But mainly speak and speak and speak. So the whole day felt a bit like a fast food, you eaten something, but you haven't received any nutrients and after 1 hour you will be hungry again....

I was thinking maybe they will inspire me to do something more, or they will offer some kind of projects, collaborations or so on. But no, I was naive, or I have no clue what politics is about. I think politics is not for me. But as yesterday my friend told me even if it's small changes that can be done with the help of politics and policy making it still worth the fight. It kind of encouraged me.
And he is right, we should fight even if there is some slight chance for a change or improvement.
So I will see how my "political" career will unfold :) for know I am mainly researching and looking into it, if it's something I can do. But still at the moment I feel for me it's better to go and plant a tree or save a turtle rather than attend a conference.

But all fights are important, and we should do everything what is in our capabilities.
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