What it's like to rescues migrants at sea

“No one deserves to die at sea. No one deserves to die at external borders, seeking a safe and more humane life,” Leona Blankenstein, 30, told Blue Marble.

Blankenstein is the tactical coordinator of Sea Watch International, an organization dedicated to search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean Sea that “was founded in 2014 by volunteers who could just no longer stand witnessing people dying.”

Blankenstein and her team search for boats in distress, following a route that she said consists mainly of people trying to reach Europe from Libya or Tunisia.