Energy & Climate
Peaceful protestors tailed
Activists tailed by corporate spies in peaceful coral triangle biodiversity action.
13 August 2026
Main image: Sperm whale beach art, Pentire beach
Environmental campaigners have collaborated with Cornish artists Bill Bartlett and Angela Cockayne, covering beaches with sand murals calling to protect critical Southeast Asian marine ecosystems.
They used rakes to draw giant artworks on Polzeath beach, Pentire beach and Porthcothan Bay as part of global calls to stop liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion in the Coral Triangle, a region of the Asian Pacific which is important for global ecological stability.
On Polzeath beach, locals and holiday-makers joined Bill Bartlett to rake the sand into images of marine biodiversity against a geometric pattern of triangles. It represented the grave threat the LNG industry poses to endangered marine wildlife as well as 360 million local people who depend on the Coral Triangle for their livelihoods.
Charlie Doggart, visiting from Cardiff, was one of many parents on the beach with her children who helped rake the mural. She said: ‘As a parent, I want to say loud and clear that I oppose LNG expansion in the Coral Triangle – so Southeast Asian families can continue to put food on the table – but also for global climate stability so my own children can have a better chance of a safe future.’
Destroying the region’s ecosystems would have severe consequences for the UK, too. Southeast Asian coral reefs are essential for food security, as stated in the British government’s report ‘Ecosystem Collapse, Biodiversity Loss and Threats to National Security’.
After many years of producing giant beach artworks around Cornwall, Bill Bartlett is joining the campaign for, as he put it, ‘the good of our global web of life support systems.’
‘Whether we are talking about our own cold-water pink sea fan corals off Pentire or the vibrant reefs of Southeast Asia, our oceans are inextricably linked. For me, these collaborative beach drawings are a vital plea for everyone to stand with communities fighting against LNG in the Coral Triangle. Their fight is our fight. Marine ecosystems know no borders, and insurance companies in London shouldn’t be underwriting the destruction of vital marine life on the other side of the planet.’
BILL BARTLETT
Artist
On Porthcothan Bay, the campaigners replicated Cockayne’s print of a stranded sperm whale, inscribing ‘Save the World’ and ‘Protect the Coral Triangle’ into the sand around it.
Cockayne, who has previously featured in Tate St Ives, designed the original image in honour of the dying whale – a still from a short animation imagining what its ‘last words’ and message to us all might have been.
‘Save the World’ is a reference to Greenpeace’s 1970s campaign to ‘Save the Whale ’, marking the dawn of a new consciousness in wildlife protection, and to signify the interconnectedness of marine life with life on land.
The two sand murals contribute to a series of beach artworks spreading around the Cornish coast. It began with poignant artwork of a drawing of a sickly turtle carrying an LNG tanker on its back, designed by anti-LNG campaigner Andrew Taylor with the help of Bartlett.
Cornish residents are encouraged to use a beach design pack to produce their own sand murals, sculptures, pebble mosaics and share on social media with the hashtag, #ProtectTheCoralTriangle, as part of the international drive to protect marine life against fossil fuel expansion.
The Coral Triangle campaign is led by the Filipino Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, with partner groups abroad, including Insure Our Future, Boycott Bloody Insurance and Insure Our Survival demanding insurance companies rule out underwriting LNG expansion in the region.
The Coral Triangle is the global epicentre of marine biodiversity. It contains 76% of the world’s coral species and supports over 360 million people. The area is home to critical tuna spawning grounds and vast mangrove carbon sinks.
Despite its ecological and social importance, fossil gas expansion is planned to rapidly escalate across the region, particularly through new LNG import terminals.
There are currently over 100 operating offshore oil and gas blocks and more than 450 additional exploration blocks. 19 LNG terminals are operating and more than 30 new terminals have been proposed.
If the exploration blocks proceed, countries across the region risk being locked into fossil fuels.
Up to 16% of the Coral Triangle could be directly impacted, with potentially dire consequences for people who depend on its waters and ecosystems, as well as for the climate.
Communities across the region have been resisting fossil fuel expansion, with many successes. Campaigners are supporting their fight by educating insurers about the risks and impacts of these projects and pushing companies to refuse or withdraw the insurance and reinsurance support needed for them to go ahead.
The activists are also working to build a coalition of organisations that will use a range of tactics – from corporate engagement and direct dialogue to creative street actions – to pressure insurers to rule out these destructive projects.
Activists tailed by corporate spies in peaceful coral triangle biodiversity action.
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