Protesters in Seattle are not giving oil giant Shell any peace. After the arrival of the first of two giant rigs destined for Arctic drilling at the weekend sparked protests, more are planned to stop Shell from polluting one of the world’s last pristine wildernesses.

Activists say Shell’s promises to be clean and green are worthless.

“So we’re a sending a message to Shell that we don’t want, Seattle and the people who live here, don’t want their rig based here. We don’t want them to be going and drilling in the Arctic. We want to start the transition to a sustainable energy economy which is not based on fossil fuels,” said one man.

This being the American northwest protesters took to the water, with scores of “kayaktivists” promising they will make life difficult for any maritime operations.

The protests have gone beyond the usual NGOs and environmentalists, with many local residents joining in. They have also received a boost with several economists and organisations recentl