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Sea Shepherd

  •                                                last update 01/09/2020                                              
    Sea Shepherd

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                              https://seashepherd.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Captains-Log-2018.pdf

    Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

    CAPTAIN’S

    LOG
    2018

    NO.76

    For more information about Sea Shepherd and our campaigns to defend, conserve & protect the oceanic wildlife please visit: seashepherd.org


    Dear Friends,

    At Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, every day is World Ocean’s Day. For over forty-two years, we have fought to protect every living being in our oceans from the smallest fish to the largest mammal. While we have made great strides defending our oceans, there is still so much more work to be done.

    In honor of World Ocean’s Day, Sea Shepherd is hosting a Matching Gift Challenge and thanks to the generosity of a few of our amazing supporters, your donation will be matched up to $150,000! Each donation will be used to help with fueling our ships, feeding our crew, and defending marine wildlife. With your help, we can continue to fight for the oceans.

    We are extremely grateful to the following individuals and families who have generously donated toward our $150,000 Challenge Match: 

    • Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni and Jane Patterson
    • Bruce and Kimberlie Jodar 
    • Charlie, Mikey, Kai, Jen, and Tim Wannenmacher
    • Anonymous


    How We Can All Give Back


    You can participate in a World Oceans Day event or activity this year to help protect our oceans. It’s up to each of us to help ensure that the ocean is healthy for future generations.

    World Oceans Day allows us to:

    • Change perspective – encourage others to think about what the ocean means to them and how important it is to Defend, Conserve & Protect it for present and future generations.

    • Learn – discover the wealth of diverse and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how our daily actions affect them, and how every living being on this planet is interconnected.

    • Change our ways – we are all linked to, and through, our oceans! By taking care of your backyard and helping in your community, you are acting as a caretaker of the ocean. Making small modifications to your everyday habits will make a difference, and involving your family, friends, and community will benefit our blue planet even more!

    • Celebrate – whether you live inland or on the coast, we are all connected to the ocean. Take the time to think about how the ocean affects you, and how you affect the ocean, and then organize or participate in activities that celebrate our ocean.
       

    Email Divider


    We are so grateful for your past support and hope we can count on you to help us with this challenge.

     

    For the oceans,

    Captain Paul Watson Signature

    Captain Paul Watson
    Founder and Director
    Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
    ###############

    6/2/19

     
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    Dear Friends of Whales and Dolphins,

    There has been lots of misleading media coverage about Japanese whaling this past week with news stories about Japan’s “resumption of commercial whaling.”

    Many people are confused about Japan’s whaling in their territorial waters this year, calling it the return of commercial whaling.  In fact, Japan has been illegally whaling in their own waters every single year for the last 33 years, despite the moratorium on whaling in 1986.  The only difference now is that Japan has withdrawn from the IWC (International Whaling Commission) finally paving the way for the commission to become totally focused on conservation.  Japan’s withdrawal from the IWC, also brings an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean.  Stopping whaling in the entire Southern Hemisphere has always been a goal for Sea Shepherd and it has been achieved.  Now, the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary will be a reality.

    Another bit of good news is that Iceland will not be killing any Fin, Blue and Minke whales this summer and our ship the Brigitte Bardot departs today from Iceland to return to anti-poaching patrols in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

    Whaling in Japan is a dying industry that survives only by the politically motivated injection of massive government subsidies. We have driven the Japanese whalers from the Southern Hemisphere and now their illegal slaughter continues in their own waters, second in numbers only to the unlawful killing of whales in Norwegian waters. This summer we will be actively opposing the massacre of pilot whales and dolphins in the Danish Faroe Islands.

    Sea Shepherd opposition to whaling is global and we will continue to pressure Japan and the other outlaw whaling nations until we achieve our ultimate goal – the complete and total global eradication of the merciless madness of whaling by anyone, everywhere for any reason.

    Ending whaling has been my life’s work since 1974 and it is my hope and my goal to see the merciless killing of whales and dolphins eradicated before I die and I will do everything I can to realize that objective.
     

    Yours Sincerely,

     
     
       



     
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    Brigitte Bardot in Bar Harbor, Maine

    This week I had the opportunity to visit the BRIGITTE BARDOT in Bar Harbor, Maine, recently returned from Iceland where we are happy to report that not a single whale will be killed by Icelandic whalers this summer.

    This happy outcome came about because of a series of Sea Shepherd initiatives. 1. The complete documentation of every single whale killed in 2018 by volunteers with Sea Shepherd U.K.. This documentation provided evidence of illegal activities that we presented to Icelandic authorities. 2. A legal initiative by Sea Shepherd Legal to challenge the legality of the whaling operations and 3. The arrival of the Sea Shepherd vessel BRIGITTE BARDOT and Operation Northern Exposure  the mission to follow the whaling ships out to sea. In the end that was not necessary. The permits were not issued by the Icelandic government and all whaling operations for Fin whales AND Minke whales have been suspended for 2019.

    Iceland has not officially ended whaling so Sea Shepherd will be prepared to return in 2020 if it looks like Iceland will resume whaling next year. 

    Sea Shepherd volunteers are on the Danish Faroe Islands this summer with our continuing Operation Bloody Fjords campaign.

    We are also looking at undertaking campaign in 2020 against Norwegian whaling. Norway is now the public enemy No. 1 to the whales. Japan has thankfully fallen to 2nd place after announcing their permanent retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. They have announced that they are resuming commercial whaling in their own territorial waters but the truth is they have never stopped. The good news is that the factory ship Nisshin Maru will be retired and the whaling industry will no longer be receiving massive government subsidies from the Japanese government. We believe that without subsidies whaling will not survive and that our best strategy for now is to not back the Japanese whalers into a corner and allow for the industry to die a quiet death by virtue of loss of profits.

    Overall the news for whales has been very good for 2019. For the first time in history there is no whaling in the entire Southern Hemisphere and with Japan having left the International Whaling Commission, there will now be no obstacle to establishing the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary. 

    This week is also notable for Sea Shepherd because July 16th marks the 40th anniversary of the day that Peter Woof, Jerry Doran and I rammed and disabled the notorious pirate whaler SIERRA in Leixoes harbor, Portugal.

    We lost our 1st ship the SEA SHEPHERD in the process but it was a good trade. On February 6th, 1980, the SIERRA was sunk in Lisbon harbor after spending over one million dollars on repairs. From the day we rammed that ship, it never killed another whale. We ended the career of this ship and sent a message loud and clear that we would no longer tolerate the criminal operations of whaling ships.
    Over the last forty years Sea Shepherd shut down the whaling operations of the CAPE FISHER in the Canary Islands and sank the ISBA I and ISBA II in Vigo, Spain in 1980. We sank half the Icelandic whaling fleet in 1986 and scuttled the Norwegian whaler NYBRAENA in Norway in 1992 and the Norwegian whaler SENET in 1994.

    This year we saw the greatest victory of all with the withdrawal of the Japanese whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary after 15 years of high profile confrontations.

    I look back over the last four decades with much satisfaction for saving the lives of thousands of whales from the deadly harpoons.

    In 1975 I vowed to devote my life to the eradication of the serial killing of whales and dolphins. Sea Shepherd has accomplished much over these last 40 years but the job remains unfinished. We must end the killing in the waters of Norway, Japan, Iceland and the Danish Faroe Islands.

    I will never retire until this goal is achieved. That is my promise and my commitment until the day I die and I am content knowing that I created a global movement that will continue to focus on achieving this objective long after I am gone.

    Captain Paul Watson
     



    7
    /25/19
     
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    THANK YOU RUTGAR HAUER

    In 1997 I was held in  Dutch prison awaiting an extradition trial to Norway for sinking one of their illegal whaling ships the “Nybraena”. I was held for 120 days and received incredible support from the Dutch public and most notably from Rutger Hauer who twice visited me at Lelystad Prison. Rutger helped mobilize other celebrities and the Dutch court ruled to release me without extradition to Norway.   
     
    Rutger passed away today at the age of 75 and all of us with Sea Shepherd will miss him very much.

    His support over the last 22 years gave us all strength and inspiration. When I returned from my 15 month exile at sea in 2013 Rutger along with James Costa hosted a dinner party in Hollywood to welcome me back.

    In 2006 Rutger was on a movie set in Cape Town and took the time to take the entire crew of the Farley Mowat out for the evening for dinner and drinks.

    When we needed him he was there for us and for the whales and other citizens of the sea. Always generous, always supportive and always with a smile. 

    He was a good friend. I sailed with him on a few weekends in Santa Monica Bay and shared stories and life experiences.

    As an actor he was a legend. In Blade Runner he made the replicant he portrayed possess more humanity than the humans pursuing him. He played good guys, bad guys, a blind guy and of course will always be remembered as The Man of Orange, a legend in his native Netherlands and the world. 

    Rutger was a Shepherd of the Sea, a hero for the planet and a truly wonderful person.
     

    WHALE WARS IS BACK!

    Tomorrow, July 24th, Animal Planet will be airing 26 episodes of Whale Wars. Seasons 4, 5, and 6. Now that the Japanese will no longer be killing whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary our campaigns between 2006 and 2017 can be viewed as exceptionally successful. Our investment of time, funds, and hard work paid off and today the whales of the Southern Ocean are safe from the Japanese harpoons. In total more than 6,000 whales were saved by Sea Shepherd interventions. 

    If you are on social, engage with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using the hashtag #ForTheOceans

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdConservationSociety
    Twitter: twitter.com/SeaShepherdSSCS
    Instagram: www.instagram.com/seashepherdsscs/

     

    PAMELA ANDERSON DEFENDS WILD SALMON

    On Saturday July 26 Pamela Anderson will be onboard the Sea Shepherd sailing vessel Martin Sheen leading a flotilla of boats in opposition to the destructive and invasive salmon farms. Pamela will be joined by Sea Shepherd captain Locky MacLean, Green Party MP Paul Manly and hereditary chief George Quocksister.
     

    SHIP UPDATE

    The ships White Holly, Sharpie and Farley Mowat are presently in the shipyards for repairs and preparations for their return to Operation Milagros VI in October 2019. Because of the last 5 years of campaigns in the Mexican Sea of Cortez Sea Shepherd has prevented the extinction of the endangered Vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise.
     

    MY BOOK IS OUT

    What does saving whales have to do with the American Civil War? Buy my new book to find out: The War That Saved the Whales
    Click here to buy

    AUTOGRAPHS

    People are always asking for autographed photos. So I have made them available for a fee. We have to run these damn ships somehow. It’s expensive defending life in the sea.
    Click here to view all images available  

    PAUL WATSON STORE

    The best place to purchase Sea Shepherd and Captain Paul Watson items, directly from the Captain to you. SHOP NOW  

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    MY SUMMER REPORT

    By Captain Paul Watson
    IT HAS BEEN A VERY BUSY SUMMER FOR
    SEA SHEPHERD CREWS AROUND THE WORLD. 

    ICELAND

    Operation Northern Exposure (Brigitte Bardot)
    Captain Chris Holt (USA)

    Our fast long range patrol boat Brigitte Bardot has returned from Iceland where I am happy to report that no whales will be killed in 2019. Our documentation from 2018 brought numerous violations to the attention of the Icelandic authorities and we went to Reykjavik to send a message that we were watching the situation and prepared to intervene if permits were granted. The permits were denied.
     
    We have produced a video for Operation Northern Exposure in Iceland:
    https://bit.ly/2jZl65B
     
    The Brigitte Bardot stopped in Bar Harbor, Maine for repairs after returning from Iceland and will now move to New York City to participate in the Youth Climate Change Strike led by Greta Thunberg. I have offered Greta a ride on the Martin Sheen to the Climate Change Conference in Santiago, Chile in December. After New York, the Brigitte Bardot will head south thru the Panama Canal to resume anti-poaching patrols in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. 
     

    THE DANISH FAROE ISLANDS

    Operation Bloody Fjords

    Elsewhere in the North Atlantic, we have had a crew of international volunteers on the Danish Faroe Islands documenting the atrocities of the brutal Grindadrap, the slaughter of pilot whales and dolphins. We managed to get some musicians to cancel their concerts in the Faroes this summer. The news in the Faroes is not so good. Some 650 pilot whales have been slaughtered this summer. Sea Shepherd did document the dumping of entire carcasses into the sea, evidence that the killing is done for sport and not for subsistence. Although heavily opposed by Faroese police and the Danish Navy, Sea Shepherd is an unyielding opposition to the atrocities on these remote northern Islands.

    MEXICO

    Operation Milagro VI (Sharpie)
    Captain: Octavio Carranza. (Mexico)

    Presently our patrol boat Sharpie is conducting a population survey of the endangered Vaquita population in the Sea of Cortez in preparation for our return to the Vaquita Refuge for Operation Milagro VI.

    The White Holly and the Farley Mowat are undergoing maintenance in Mexico in preparation for the campaign that will begin in early November.
     
    Our ships White Holly and Farley Mowat are undergoing repairs and preparations in Mexico to be ready for operations for Operation Milagro VI to defend and protect the endangered Vaquita.
     

    BRITISH COLUMBIA

    Operation Virus Hunter (Martin Sheen)
    Captain Marc Archambault. (Canada)

    It has been a very active and productive summer for the crew on our sailing vessel the Martin Sheen working in the coastal waters of British Columbia to expose the ecological issues involving open pen Atlantic salmon farms and the transmission of parasites and viruses to wild Pacific salmon populations. Actress Pamela Anderson joined the crew along with numerous hereditary chiefs from First Nation communities. This campaign is also about saving West coast Orcas because of the diminishment of wild salmon populations. 17 salmon farms will be closed by 2022. The Martin Sheen will be made ready for the long journey to Santiago, Chile to attend the Global Climate Conference in December.

    NICARAGUA AND MAYOTTE

    Operation Jairo
    Campaign Leader: Lamya Essemlali (France)

    This summer we had anti-poaching patrols on the beaches in Nicaragua and the French territorial island of Mayotte situated between Madagascar and Mozambique. In Nicaragua the objective is to defend turtle nests and eggs from poachers and in Mayotte the objective is to stop poachers killing sea turtles for food. Both campaigns have been successful in preventing the killing of hundreds of turtles and protecting thousands of egg and overseeing the return of the hatchlings to the sea.
     

    GABON, WEST AFRICA

    Operation Albacore IV (Bob Barker)
    Captain Julian McGale

    The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker spent the summer patrolling the territorial waters of Gabon in partnership with the Gabonese government with the objective of intercepting and deterring foreign poachers.  To date Sea Shepherd has assisted in the arrest of 10 poachers and deterred the operations of hundreds more.

    NAMIBIA, WEST AFRICA

    Operation Vanguard (Ocean Warrior)
    Captain James Brook

    The Ocean Warrior spent the summer patrolling the territorial waters of Namibia in partnership with the government of Namibia.

    THE MEDITERRANEAN

    Operation Siso (Sam Simon)
    Captain Alistair Allan

    The Sam Simon spent the summer doing anti-poaching patrol and confiscating ghost nets in the Mediterranean based out of Sicily. In Mid-ugust the Sam Simon departed for patrols in The Gambia, West Africa to work in partnership with the Gambian government. A New York Times crew boarded the ship on August 24th for an investigation into West African poaching.

    FLORIDA/Caribbean

    THE JOHN PAUL DEJORIA
    Captain Bob Peel (U.K.)

    The John Paul DeJoria took on a load of donated relief supplies from the people of the Cayman Islands and is not enroute to the Bahamas where the ship will assist with recovery from hurricane Dorion as part of our Operation Good Pirates of the Caribbean program.

    CITES

    Sea Shepherd and Sea Shepherd Legal played a prominent role at the recent meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland (August 17th August 28th). Sea Shepherd intervention at CITES was critical to ensuring that the parties at CITES understood the significant threats facing the endangered Vaquita due to the illegal trade in Totoaba fish bladders.

    MEDIA

    OUTLAW OCEAN

    Ian Urbina’s book Outlaw Ocean has just been published and is already on the N.Y. Times Best Seller’s List. The book has two chapters dedicated to Sea Shepherd campaigns including the pursuit of the Icefish poacher Thunder and the 2017 Antarctic campaign against illegal Japanese whaling.

    UNITED AIRLINES HEMISPHERE MAGAZINE

    Sea Shepherd has a full page feature on our anti-poaching campaign in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The articles was published September 1st and will reach about 550,000 people globally and will be distributed on all United planes and lounges.

    FILMS

    Sea Shepherd has never had more films available to the public. Defend, Conserve Protect narrated by Dan Aykrod is being shown in Australia. Chasing the Thunder is being shown worldwide at conferences and film Festivals. Sea of Shadows is showing in theaters across the USA and has been bought by National Geographic to be shown on the Nat Geo channel. Leslie Chilcott’s documentary Watson will be released later in the year as will Seaspiracy by Kip Anderson co-produced by Sea Shepherd.

    WHAT AM I DOING?

    I was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Renewable Energy Conference in Snowmass, Colorado, where I was given the honor to be the keynote speaker. 
     
    I will be attending the screening of Lesley Chilcott’s documentary film WATSON at the Camden, Maine Film Festival on September 14th and also at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival on September 21st in Wyoming.
     
    On September 20th I will be speaking at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont and there will be a showing of the film Chasing the Thunder along with Mark Benjamin the Director.
     
     
    My first book of Poetry has been published and is available on Amazon. The Haunted Mariner. You can buy it here:https://amzn.to/2lZkGNl

    I will send autographed copies for $15. ($25 outside the USA) Send a check to Captain Paul Watson, P.O. Box 600, Woodstock, Vermont. 05091

    ...............
    UPDATE 11/15/19

    • Captain Paul Watson 
      To:James
       
      Nov 15 at 8:58 AM
       
       
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      OCTOBER WAS A VERY BUSY MONTH

      By Captain Paul Watson  

      BRITISH COLOMBIA

      Operation Virus Hunter (R/V Martin Sheen)

      We recently completed Operation Virus Hunter for this year in the waters of British Colombia with our sailing vessel the R/V Martin Sheen. Seventeen salmon farms have been closed down so far.  We are working with the First Nations people and biologist Dr. Alexandra Morton to investigate, document and expose the danger to marine wildlife and indigenous salmon species by the invasive Atlantic salmon farms. This comes from the transmission of viruses and parasites found in domestic invasive Atlantic salmon farms.

      Our team also traveled to the Atlantic coast to expose the mass die-off of domestic salmon in Newfoundland waters. The R/V Martin Sheen is now on Vancouver Island undergoing maintenance in preparation for a campaign in December to protect herring in British Columbian waters. 
       

      EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC

      Operation Treasured Islands (M/V Brigitte Bardot)

      The Brigitte Bardot has crossed the Panama Canal and launched Operation Treasured Islands. This campaign involves searching for Chinese poaching vessels in the Galapagos Corridor in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.  We are working in partnership with Sky Truth and the governments of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru.

      Follow the Brigitte Bardot from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal in this fast-tracked video of yesterday’s transit.
      Follow the Brigitte Bardot from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal in this fast-tracked video of yesterday’s transit.

      https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdConservationSociety/videos/958801977826011/UzpfSTE1NTQzMDU3MDkzMToxMDE1NzI3MDE0MzM1NTkzMg/
       

      MEXICO

      Operation Milagro VI (M/V Sharpie and M/V Farley Mowat)

      On October 28th, the first illegal net of the season was removed from the Vaquita Refuge by the crew of the Farley Mowat.  From the 29th of October until the 13th of November, the Farley Mowat, working in partnership with the Mexican Navy, confiscated 20 illegal nets totaling 5 kilometers in length. Total nets confiscated from the beginning of Milagro in 2015 until today has just surpassed one thousand. This equals 220 kilometres of illegal nets.
       
      Our two fast patrol boats the Farley Mowat and the Sharpie are now in the Sea of Cortez working in partnership with the Mexican Navy to prevent the extinction of the highly endangered Vaquita porpoise. 
       

      GUADALUPE ISLAND (MEXICO)

      Operation Divina Guadalupe VI (M/V White Holly)

      Our ship the White Holly just completed Operation Divina Guadalupe VI, working with the Mexican government agency CONANP to study Cuvier’s beaked whales. The campaign has already secured some incredible never before seen documentation. For 8 days. Position: 28° 58’ This rare underwater photo of a Cuvier’s beaked whales as taken a few weeks ago.

      In November the White Holly will head south to support the Brigitte Bardot and Operation Treasured Islands.

      THE BAHAMAS

      Operation Good Pirates of the Caribbean (M/V John Paul DeJoria)

      As soon as Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas in September, our ship the John Paul DeJoria was mobilized for search and rescue and disaster relief. For the last two months the JPD crew have been rescuing people and animals and delivering needed supplies. Last week the crew completed the final mission to the Bahamas by erecting a solar power station at Sweetwater Cay, one of the hardest hit islands. Homeless dogs and cats were brought back to Florida to be adopted.
       

      AFRICA


      What we are doing in Africa is unique and even more successful than we anticipated when we began our partnership with Gabon in 2016. Today we have forged enforcement partnerships in addition to Gabon with Liberia, Sao Tome Principe, Benin, Gambia, Tanzania and Namibia. In total we have assisted with the arrest of 45 poaching vessels and so far this year that amounts to 14 arrests in Gambia, 2 in Gabon and 1 in Liberia. The poachers never know whose waters we are patrolling in and this has served to be an effective deterrent in keeping poachers away.
       
      Captain Luis Alfonso Rubio Cataldo of the notorious Thunder served two years of his three year sentence in Sao Tome for deliberately sinking his ship in Sao Tome waters in an effort to destroy evidence of his illegal fishing activities. Sea Shepherd boarded the sinking ship and collected the evidence. The legal consequences for Captain Cataldo did not end with his release from prison. Upon his return to his native Chile he was fined $50,000 and lost his Captain’s license.
       
      The pursuit of the Thunder was the longest pursuit of a poacher in maritime history. The Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon chased the Thunder for 110 days. The entire epic story was made into the documentary film Chasing the Thunder.
       
      Presently the Bob Barker is patrolling the waters of Liberia and the Sam Simon is in the waters of Cape Verde and about to head north to protect dolphins in the Bay of Biscay from French trawlers.

      OCEAN WARRIOR


      The Ocean Warrior is in Singapore for refit work having completed anti-poaching patrols in the waters of Namibia.

      OUR CREWS


      Presently on all the Sea Shepherd ships worldwide we have 127 crewmembers hailing from 22 Nations. These nations are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Colombian, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.A., and Zimbabwe

      OPERATIONS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY


      Normally at this time of the year, the Japanese whaling fleet would be setting off for the Southern Ocean to slaughter whales. That era has ended. Japan will no longer slaughter whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. All our efforts from 2005 until 2017 contributed to this result with over 6,500 whales saved and the security of whales in Antarctic waters now ensured. Many said it could not be done yet we did it. For the first time in the history of commercial whaling all whaling operations in international waters has ended. Commercial whaling continues in the territorial waters only of Norway, Japan, Iceland and Denmark.

      Operation Milagro VI – Sea of Cortez, Mexico
      Preventing the extinction of the Vaquita.

      Operation Divina Guadalupe VI – North Pacific off Mexico
      Research

      Operation Good Pirates of the Caribbean – Bahamas
      Aid to victims of Hurricane Dorian

      Operation Virus Hunter – British Columbia
      Just completed. Salmon Farms.

      Operation Stella Solis – Liberia
      Anti-poaching

      Operation  Nyamba - Mayotte (Indian Ocean)
      Defending Sea Turtles from poachers.

      NEWS FROM:

      New Zealand: We have posted a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for shooting Owha the resident Leopard Seal in Auckland harbor.

      Link: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12280543

      France: We have a crew on the French territorial island of Mayotte protecting turtle nests. Sea Shepherd has organized over 800 night patrols since July, 2017 defending the beaches. The Sam Simon will be arriving in French waters in November to defend dolphins from French fishermen.

      Brazil: The Northeast coast of Brazil has suffered an unprecedented oil spill. The source of the spill has not been identified. Sea Shepherd Brazil has been receiving a donation to pass onto the teams on the ground working to clean up the spill and to rescue affected marine animals.
       
      On-going beach cleanup campaigns in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, North and South America.

      MEDIA

      "WATSON"

      WATSON COULD WIN AN OSCAR

      I am very happy to report that Leslie Chilcott's wonderful film WATSON has been submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) as one of the 159 submissions for Best Documentary Film.

      Leslie was the producer of An Inconvenient Truth, a film that won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2006. That bodes well for Watson.

      Lots of competition however but what she has done with this film is absolutely stunning and so far it has scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with extremely positive reviews in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Hollywood Reporter.


      Click this link to view the trailer for the incredible
      documentary by Leslie Chilcott: WATSON

      https://uproxx.com/life/trailer-paul-watson-documentary-interview/?
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      1/9/20


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      A New Decade of Defending Begins
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        Captain Paul Watson 
        To:James
         
        Jan 8 at 7:50 AM
         
         
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        A NEW DECADE OF DEFENDING THE OCEAN BEGINS

          2019: End of One Decade the Beginning of a New Decade

        2020 WILL MARK A SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL VICTORY IN THE WAR TO ERADICATE WHALING

        It is with a great sense of relief and accomplishment that this last year, 2019, has seen the end of the viciously cruel slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

        Finally after years of opposing the Japanese whale poachers, the Whale Sanctuary is now for the very first time – actually a sanctuary!

        No whales will be killed in the waters of Antarctica in 2020 and this will mark the first year since whaling began in Antarctic waters in 1909 by Great Britain.

        One hundred and nine years of lethal commercial exploitation of the great whales in Antarctica has finally ended.

        Sea Shepherd Advisory Board member Dr. Sidney Holt died at the age of 93 on December 23rd, 2019 and happily he was witness to his lifetime objective of ending this horrific and illegal massacre of the great whales.

        The scale of the slaughter was monstrous. The two whaling operations in South Orkneys and the South Shetlands alone killed 118,159 whales in just 19 years between 1911 and 1930. This figure included 61,336 Blue whales, 48,023 Fin whales, 6,072 Humpback whales, and 184 Sperm whales. They did not even bother to kill the smaller Minke whales back then, turning their attention to them only after they nearly obliterated the populations of the larger whales.

        These figures were only for the British operations in South Shetland and South Orkney. The whales killed overall in 1927 numbered 13,775 and 40,201 for 1929.

        In 1930 some 38 factory ships and 184 harpoon vessels primarily British and Norwegian were slaughtering whales without any thought of the conservation of the species.

        The slaughter was so relentless that in 1931, the Geneva Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in the very first effort to address the massacres. Despite the signing of the agreement, the whalers killed 29,410 Blue whales that year.

        In 1984, the first Japanese factory ship (Tonan Maru) arrived in Antarctic waters.

        In 1937, the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in London. That same year a record 46,039 whales were slaughtered.

        The whales received some relief and possibly the Blues and the Humpbacks were saved from extinction because of the war between 1939 and 1946.

        In 1946, the realization that the kills were insanely unsustainable resulted in the establishment of the International Whaling Commission.

        It was almost too late and it did not stop the slaughter. In fact under the encouragement and assistance of the United States, Japan escalated their operations.

        In 1964, all the whaling ships in Antarctic waters could only find 20 Blue whales to kill. The decision was made to pursue other species including the much smaller Minke whales.

        During the Sixties, deliberate under-reporting of kill quotas by Japan and the Soviet Union resulted in the realization that whale numbers were far fewer than the IWC had determined.

        In 1972, The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment voted for a 10 year moratorium on whaling.

        I attended that conference and in 1974 working with Dr. Paul Spong and Robert Hunter we launched the plan to defend and protect whales in the North Pacific.

        In 1975, we set forth on the “Greenpeace” to hunt down and confront the Soviet whaling fleet.

        It was that voyage that changed my life forever. I was 24 years old, my life saved by a dying Sperm whale and it was in June 1975 that I swore an oath to defend and protect the whales and to do whatever physically possible to eradicate the perversion of whaling.

        It was a daunting task, seemingly impossible at the time in the face of commercial whaling operations by the Soviet Union, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Chile, Peru, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, South Korea and a fleet of pirate whalers like the “Sierra”.

        Australia quit whaling in 1977 after dramatic high seas confrontations.

        In 1979, I rammed and disabled the “Sierra” and we sank her at dockside in 1980. We then shut down the South African whalers “Susan” and the Theresa” and sank half of the four Spanish whalers in the port of Vigo, Spain. In 1986 we sank half the Icelandic whaling fleet and destroyed their onshore factory shutting down Icelandic whaling operations for 17 years.

        Finally after years of intensive efforts by conservationists working within the International Whaling Commission, a moratorium on commercial whaling was passed. That moratorium came into effect in 1987 and is still in effect today.

        It did not however stop Japan, Norway, and Iceland, all three of which openly, illegally and contemptuously violated the moratorium. And thus began our direct action opposition to the Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean and the pirate whaling operations in Norway.

        Between 2002 and 2017, Sea Shepherd sent twelve expeditions to obstruct Japanese whaling operations, an effort that saved over 6,500 whales and cost the Japanese whalers over 150 million dollars in losses.

        Between 1992 and 2002, Sea Shepherd sank a number of illegal Norwegian whalers dockside in Norway.

        It was a war and from 1974 until today, thanks to the efforts of Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, and the incredible scientists fighting the whalers inside the IWC, whaling has been 95% eradicated.

        This coming year not one whale will be killed in pelagic international waters. This has been a momentous achievement and something that I believe justifies all our so called radical actions over the last four decades.

        We went to war to save the whales and we won. The Antarctic Whale Sanctuary is now empty of whalers and all international waters are now safe from the curse of whaling.

        Now we need to complete the job by mopping up the illegal whaling operations ongoing inside the territorial waters of Norway, Japan, and Iceland.

        It has been and continues to be my lifetime ambition to eradicate the perversion of whaling by anyone, anywhere, for any reason. In my mind it is murder and a crime against the Cetacean nations, against humanity and against nature.

        On this day, as we begin a New Year, I would like to gratefully acknowledge and to thank all those organizations, scientists and activists that have made this all possible.

        I especially want to acknowledge and to thank the thousands of volunteers that have crewed on Sea Shepherd ships over these many years. It is their courage, their hard work, their passion and their dedication that achieved so much with so little resources.

        Today our crew are fighting to prevent the extinction of the Vaquita porpoise and to stop the slaughter of the fishes by illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, We are working to protect the seas from plastic, from pollution, from the toxins, parasites and viruses from domestic fish farms and we are working to increase our efforts to effectively patrol marine sanctuaries and refuges in cooperation with other organizations and with governments.

        We are also working to shut down the barbaric slaughter of pilot whales and dolphins in the Danish Faroe Islands and in the Cove at Taiji, Japan.

        In these efforts we are guided by this one very blatant truth – If the Ocean dies, we all die!

        The Ocean is the life support system for Spaceship Earth.

        In saving the whales, the turtles, the sea birds, the plankton and the fishes, we save ourselves.

        Much has been achieved and there is still much more to do.

        MAJOR VICTORIES IN 2019

        AFRICA

        Our anti-poaching patrols have busted 50 illegal fishing vessels to date. Our official partnerships with seven African nations has been hugely successful and the outlook for 2020 looks like we will be working with additional African nations.

        ICELAND

        We sent our ship the Brigitte Bardot to Iceland this last summer and not a single whale was slain there in 2019.

         

        MEXICO

        Operation Milagro is our most intensive and most dangerous campaign but in 2019 we marked over a thousand illegal nets located and confiscated representing some 150,000 meters. Most importantly Sea Shepherd efforts have prevented the extinction of the Vaquita, the most endangered marine mammal on the planet.

        THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC

        In 2019, our ship the White Holly removed 40 tons of marine debris, primarily confiscated fishing gear from Costa Rica’s Cocos Island in a joint effort with Costa Rican rangers. Our ship the Brigitte Bardot also patrolled the waters of the Galapagos Corridor to document and report illegal activities by Chinese fishing vessels.

        FILMS

        2019 saw the release of Sea of Shadows by National Geographic in November and Lesley Chilcott’s awesome documentary WATSON that aired on Animal Planet on December 22nd. Animal Planet also ran reruns of Whale Wars during the month of December. In Australia the film Defend, Conserve, Protect about Sea Shepherd’s Antarctic campaigns to defend the whales was released.

        Take a walk in the shoes of conservation!


        Sea Shepherd's NEW sneakers are 100% vegan and have been carefully hand-crafted in France to follow the principles of slow fashion.

        Fast fashion is hugely problematic for our environment and Sea Shepherd is committed to creating ethical, sustainable and eco-friendly products to help us continue our mission of direct action marine conservation. Don't forget to get yours before they are all gone. Simply go to bit.ly/sscsveganshoes and take your next step to save the oceans.

        CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON SHOP

        This is the best place to purchase Sea Shepherd and Captain Paul Watson items, directly from the Captain to you. Items include Autographed Pictures, signed copies of the Haunted MarinerDive weights created from lead off illegal netting during Operation Milagro (proceeds from the sale of the weights go directly to Operation Milagro), plus many more items. 

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        P.O. Box 600, Woodstock, VT 05091, USA

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