Protesters Rappel From Seattle Bridge

Seven Greenpeace protesters suspended themselves over the side of a bridge on Saturday in an attempt to stop factory trawlers from leaving Lake Union en route to fish off the coast of Alaska.

The protesters rappeled over the side of the Aurora Bridge, a heavily used north-south route in the city, and remained dangling several hours later, preventing two factory trawlers from leaving.

Northbound lanes were shut down for about two hours as police responded. Officers were waiting out the protesters and planned to arrest them for reckless endangerment once they were back on land.

“We think industrial fishing by factory trawlers in the Bering Sea is the cause of a lot of marine mammals’ and sea birds’ decline,” said Greenpeace spokesman Fred Munson.

“Basically they’re taking too much,” he said. “These creatures need to eat. They’re breaking the food chain.”