In news from Portland, Oregon, law enforcement officers have removed Greenpeace activists who spent 40 hours suspended from a bridge in order to block an icebreaking ship commissioned by oil giant Shell from leaving for the Arctic. Hundreds of activists have been gathering on the bridge and in kayaks since Tuesday night in efforts to stop Shell’s plans to drill in the remote Chukchi Sea. Early Thursday morning, the suspended Greenpeace activists successfully forced Shell’s ship to turn back to port in a showdown that grabbed international headlines. Greenpeace activist Kristina Flores discussed watching the ship turn around as she stood on top of the bridge Thursday.

Kristina Flores: “This morning was quite the adventure. It felt really, really great to watch the Fennica turn around and go back to port. That was just a really great, great sign that we are winning, that we are strong, and when the people come together, we can win. And we will win.”

An Alaska judge ruled Greenpeace had to begin paying fines of $2,500 for every hour that activists remained suspended. If the protest continued into Friday, the judge ruled the fines would escalate to $5,000 an hour, then $10,000 an hour Saturday. After Portland police and federal law enforcement officers removed enough suspended protesters for the ship to pass, Shell’s ship navigated its way under the St. Johns Bridge around 6 p.m. Thursday and headed to the Columbia River en route to the Arctic. The Department of the Interior has said that there is a 75 percent chance of “one or more large spills” once Shell begins drilling.