Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Current Campaigns

Dolphin Rescue Brigade
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been active in sending crews to places where dolphins are threatened. We sent crews to Taiji, Japan, in 2003 and 2004, and to the Solomon Islands. In the Solomons we investigated the illegal capture of hundreds of dolphins and in Taiji we not only documented the horrific slaughter of the defenseless animals by the fishermen in photos and video made headlines and led broadcasts around the world, but our volunteers put their freedom on the line to save the dolphins. Two of our crew were arrested for jumping into the bay, cutting the nets that penned the dolphins, and freeing 15 dolphins to prevent them from being slaughtered.

Anti-Poaching Patrols
This program monitors marine sanctuaries worldwide to deploy assistance with anti-poaching enforcement and conservation programs and is aimed at protecting National Park Marine Sanctuaries internationally from poachers and oil spills. We have a full-time patrol vessel the Sirenian in the Galapagos. We have regularly conducted patrols and provided support to rangers in Costa Rica's Cocos Island National Park Marine Sanctuary. Sea Shepherd is preparing a patrol vessel to be named the Malpelo Defender to be stationed at Malpelo Island National Park off the coast of Colombia. In August 2004, our ship Farley Mowat worked with the rangers at Fernando de Noronha National Park off the coast of Brazil.

Illegal Longline Enforcement and Interception Program
Sea Shepherd has already confiscated hundreds of miles of illegal driftnet and longlines from the world's oceans. This is an ongoing program. Our ship Farley Mowat is equipped to retrieve longlines, some of which are in excess of sixty miles. In the process we release thousands of sharks, sea-turtles, seabirds (especially albatross), and fish. Illegal longlines are one of the greatest threats to the world's marine wildlife species. Sea Shepherd is doing something about this horrific problem.

Project Whales Forever
Sea Shepherd has been on the front lines for nearly three decades protecting whales from illegal whalers. In 1979, we rammed and disabled the notorious pirate whaler Sierra. In 1980, we shut down half the Spanish whaling fleet. In 1986, we shut down Icelandic whaling. Sea Shepherd is still considered the primary threat to profits by the Norwegian whaling industry. We been to Antarctica twice to pursue and stop Japanese whalers.

Shepherds of the Seals
Sea Shepherd has been fighting sealers since 1975, and over the course of a quarter of a century we have saved hundreds of thousands of seals from slaughter using many different and creative methods. Sea Shepherd’s highly-publicized efforts have helped in creating awareness, which is the first step in enacting change. We shut down the Gray seal hunt in the Scottish Orkney Islands, and we are considered to be the most aggressive threat to Canadian sealers by the Canadian government and the Canadian Sealing Association. This is a fight we don't intend to quit until we eradicate the senseless slaughter of seals. In 2005, our flagship the Farley Mowat ventured to the ice floes off Eastern Canada to defend the baby seals. This represents only the 4th trip that any conservation ship has ever made to the ice floes – all of them, Sea Shepherd campaigns. Sea Shepherd intends to return to the ice once again and is promoting the Boycott of Canadian Seafood to economically pressure Canada into permanently ending the “hunt.”

Operation Fertile Ground
Over the last thirty years, bottom draggers have scoured the ocean floor in their insatiable appetite for fish. In doing so their heavy gear has destroyed sea bottoms world-wide. Sea Shepherd seeks to address this by building and deploying large steel and concrete "net-rippers." These devices can then be taken on board our ship and dropped on trawling grounds to allow for habitat regrowth. Any attempt to bottom trawl will be met with a hard economic penalty in the form of massive gear damage. Studies have proven that fish cannot recover under this relentless system of over-fishing.

Marine Legal Defense Team
Sea Shepherd has a legal defense team of pro bono legal experts to lay suits against corporations and governments in violation of international and national conservation and environmental laws.

Sea Shepherd International
We have Sea Shepherd groups organized worldwide. Instituto Sea Shepherd Brazil (ISSB) is involved with rescuing marine wildlife from oil spills and with shutting down illegal fishing operations off the Brazilian coast. Sea Shepherd Singapore is leading the fight to oppose the sale of shark fins in Asian markets with a campaign to discourage the eating of shark fin soup. Sea Shepherd is active in Australia and New Zealand, and Europe in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain, and France. We continue to oppose the Faeroe Island whale slaughter and illegal fishing operations in the North Sea. Sea Shepherd representatives in South Africa are helping save the Cape fur seals.

With your help, Sea Shepherd can turn the tide against over-exploitation of our oceans.

Archive - past campaigns