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Kostas Pintens, 40, a fisherman, pulls out of the port of Skala Sikamineas on the island of Lesbos, Greece.(Photo: Andrea DiCenzo)
SKALA SYKAMINIA, Greece —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“One boat,” Kostas Pinteris yells while navigating his small fishing vessel over the strong waves and currents of the Aegean Sea. “No, two boats, three now” he shouts just moments later as water from rough<span style="color: Red;">*</span>waves splashes into the wooden boat. “Four boats, and maybe number five over there,” he adds, pointing to a small mass of orange bobbing over the ocean between the Greek island of Lesbos and Turkey.
The orange mass is from dozens of life jackets bunched together, all occupied by terrified refugees and other<span style="color: Red;">*</span>migrants who have chosen to make the perilous journey by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sea to this tiny island that has become an overrun gateway to Europe.
Refugees and migrants aboard dinghies reach the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on Oct. 4, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Aris Messinis, AFP/Getty Images)
“Their boat is plastic, it can tip over easily. It can be very dangerous,” Pinteris says. Because of <span style="color: Red;">*</span>that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>risk, it has become daily routine for the local fisherman to roam the island's northern waters on the lookout for migrants<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in danger.
Drownings have<span style="color: Red;">*</span>become tragically<span style="color: Red;">*</span>commonplace, and as someone with 20 years of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>experience on the sea, the Greek fisherman says he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>feels bound to help. “If we didn’t go out, people would die, of course they would.”
Those<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fleeing war and poverty and desperate to reach Europe pay $1,000 to $2,000 to take the short but treacherous route between Turkey and Lesbos. Smugglers on the Turkish coast who provide the inflatable dinghies often cram 50 people into a boat<span style="color: Red;">*</span>with a capacity of 15, increasing the risk of capsizing. And many of the life<span style="color: Red;">*</span>jackets sold to the migrants are ineffective.
Fishing has all but become a secondary job for Pinteris, 40, who says with a laugh, "Now, no fish, just people."
Migrants cheer as they arrive in a rubber dinghy at the coast near Lesbos, Greece, on Oct. 3, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Filip Singer, European Pressphoto Agency)
“I live here, and while the boats come, I can’t stop helping,” he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>says. “When you see a situation like this, you can’t stop. When the refugees are in trouble, you hear their voices first, screaming for help. At night, the light from lighters being lit by them gets my attention as they try to show their boat is in trouble. Sometimes I find them overboard in the water trying to swim.”
So far this year, a record 522,000<span style="color: Red;">*</span>migrants have made their way<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to Europe, most escaping Syria's civil war. Despite the end of summer and worsening weather conditions on the Aegean Sea, upwards of 3,000 people still arrive on the northern shores of Lesbos everyday.
While the Greek coast guard patrols the waters around the island, its resources are stretched by the arrival of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>so many<span style="color: Red;">*</span>boats, particularly at night. So help from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>residents like Pinteris have saved countless lives.
Migrants have been arriving in boats to the northern coast of Lesbos Island for more than<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a decade, says Pinteris,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who has lived on the island his whole life. But the number has exploded from one boat a week 10<span style="color: Red;">*</span>years ago to 250 a week now, he says.
Migrants make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy as they arrive on the coast near Skala Sikaminias, Lesbos island, Greece on Oct. 2, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Filip Singer, European Pressphoto Agency)
Saving lives is not new for the fishermen here.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Vaggelis Stylianey tells of a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rescue mission five years ago,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>when a boat hit some rocks. “We saw the boat, and I went out with some others from the village," he recounts. "People were in the sea, but by the time we reached them four were dead.” Still,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the villagers managed to save 20<span style="color: Red;">*</span>people that night, he says.
A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>few houses down from the harbor, Statos Valamios says rescuing migrants is risky for the fishermen.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“If a boat is going down, then I will get as many people as I can in with me,” Valamios says. “It can be dangerous, and I’m often afraid. You don’t know what will happen, everyone is in panic.”
Valamios has lost count of the boats he has helped over the years. “The situations are worse than a horror movie," he says.
One recent night, Valamios says, he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>went to rescue a boat that was taking on water. In a desperate attempt to save their children from perishing, migrants threw them<span style="color: Red;">*</span>onto Valamios’ boat. “Everyone was screaming and scared,” he says. “I was just alone on my boat with 17<span style="color: Red;">*</span>children, I got them to land and then got other fishermen out quickly to help the refugees still out in the sea.”
The worsening weather likely will bring more deaths at sea, and the fishermen are preparing for that.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“I understand why they do it,” Pinteris says. “They just want to be free, they kiss the ground here when they make it to land. If there is nobody to help them, then I will need to go out. I’m human and so are they.”
Follow Vickery at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@MMVickery
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