Sea Shepherd News - Sea Shepherd

Alice in LUSH Land Defending the Sharks

2009-07-03T05:26:22Z

Alice in LUSH Land Defending the Sharks

Artist Alice Newstead and LUSH Cosmetics Express Empathy For the Suffering of the Sharks

Report from Captain Paul Watson

Paris, France-

Empathy!

It’s probably the most virtuous of emotions. It is the understanding of the feelings of another – be it another person or an animal.

Empathy can be expressed in many ways, but how does one communicate the horrific cruelty of the shark finners who cut off the fins of live sharks and toss the helpless mutilated bodies back into the sea to die an agonizing death?

Humans slaughter some ninety million sharks every year. The number of fatal shark attacks on humans every year averages five. Yet we humans proclaim the shark to be the monster and then choose to ignore the viciousness of the shark finning industry.

Two of the vicious hooks that mutilate the bodies of tens of million of sharks each year today in Paris pierced the tender flesh on the back of Alice Newstead, a LUSH employee and performance artist from Great Britain.

For fifteen minutes, Alice was hung suspended in the window of the LUSH store on Avenue General du LeClerc in Paris. There she was interviewed, filmed, and photographed by the media.

Alice explained that what she was doing was bringing attention to the slaughter of the world’s sharks and that the two hooks in her back were actual longline hooks used to kill sharks for their fins.

The gastronomic lust for sharkfin soup in China and in Chinese restaurants around the world is destroying worldwide shark populations at an alarming rate.

As thin rivulets of blood trickled down her back, Alice admitted that it was as painful as it looked but she added that the pain she was enduring was minor compared to the pain suffered by the tens of millions of sharks every minute of every day.

Parisians passing by were mixed in their reactions. Some were horrified and shocked, others were curious and others expressed their understanding for the sacrifice that Alice was selflessly making for the sharks. Everyone who saw her wondered why Alice was hanging from shark hooks on land so far from the sea.

This is the second occasion that Alice has been suspended with the shark hooks in her back. Last year, she initiated the LUSH and Sea Shepherd shark campaign by hanging suspended in the LUSH Fleet Street store in London. The campaign aims to raise awareness about shark finning.

I have always said that we need a diversity of approaches in both strategies and tactics to save our oceans. People need to harness their imaginations, their talents, their skills, and their passion in the cause of championing constructive change to save our Oceans and our Earth. Alice has done just that by using her experience as a performance artist to bring attention to the slaughter of the sharks.

Alice said that she was inspired by the Sundance ceremonies of the Lakota and the Cheyenne. The Sundance is a sacred dance for the renewal of life. Women are the bearers of creation and life and all that the Sundance represents.

Alice was expressing her desire for life for the sharks to replace the death that humanity is inflicting upon these great elders of the deep.

LUSH and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have been working together for the last few years to bring attention to ocean conservation issues, specifically sharks and the Canadian harp seal. The profits from the sale of LUSH Sharkfin Soap are used to help finance Sea Shepherd anti-poaching efforts in the Galapagos.

photos credit Deborah Bassett

Japan Attempts Amendment of Dutch Statutes

2009-07-02T22:40:17Z

Japan Attempts Amendment of Dutch Statutes

It appears as though Japan may have finally succeeded in gaining enough influence in the Netherlands to attempt to dictate Dutch law.

Because the Steve Irwin, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s flagship (used to obstruct activities by Japanese whalers in violation of international laws and in an internationally recognized Whale Sanctuary), is registered in the Netherlands, the Japanese authorities have lodged an official complaint regarding the conduct and behavior of the Steve Irwin.

In recent years, a number of incidents have taken place between the vessels of the Japanese whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd in the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. According to the Dutch Transport and Water Management Inspectorate, both parties have been guilty of breaking international regulations concerning good seamanship and the safety at sea.

While it appears that this will not have any serious consequences for Japanese state-supported and illegal operations, it may carry serious consequences for Sea Shepherd.

On request of the Dutch Transport and Water Management Inspectorate, the Dutch Public Ministry investigated and determined it is not feasible to start a legal prosecution. The Dutch cabinet is now considering a ban against Sea Shepherd vessels sailing under the Dutch flag. Public Works State Secretary Tineke Huizinga said she wants to amend the law quickly to make this possible.

Japan has repeatedly complained to the Netherlands about Sea Shepherd. Current law makes it difficult to take action against ships already registered with the Dutch government, so the cabinet wants to speedily extend its legal options for withdrawing certificates of registry, according to Huizinga.

Unfortunately, the Dutch authorities would be closing their eyes to the fact that all the incidents between the illegal Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd have taken place in the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and/or in others areas protected by international and Australian Federal law.

The Japanese whaling fleet is engaged in illegal activities, but lack of enforcement allows them to operate largely unopposed. Sea Shepherd is the only organization actively enforcing conservation law to stop these Antarctic poachers, and operates under the UN World Charter for Nature to that end.

For years now the Netherlands have stated they are against whaling, but have not taken any action to back up this statement. Now, given the opportunity to stand up to Japan, they intend to persecute the only organization worldwide actively striving to enforce international laws and protect whales.

Why does the Dutch government not show its independence and acknowledge the violations of the law committed by the Japanese whalers? Why is Japan apparently placed above international law?

Japan has placed itself above the law because it assumes no government in the world would show the will to actively accuse and legally prosecute Japan for their many violations of international conservation laws. The only entity that has dared to stand up and act is Sea Shepherd. The Netherlands now has an opportunity to join the legal and ethical side in this battle.

Will the Dutch government narrow-mindedly support illegal whaling operations, or will they support the only organization actively seeking to uphold those same laws by not pandering to Japanese objections?

It seems that Japan is attempting to amend Dutch law. We hope we are wrong. Regardless, we will continue to defend the defenseless against illegal activities in the Antarctic and elsewhere.

Illegal Tuna Fishing Operation Caught in the Galapagos

2009-07-02T07:49:56Z

Illegal Tuna Fishing Operation Caught in the Galapagos

On the night of June 30^th, 2009, the commercial tuna boat Don Mario, from the fishing port of Manta in Ecuador, was caught fishing inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve. At the time of capture, the vessel was 30 miles inside the protected waters of the National Park and had its nets out in the water. Inside their nets the National Park Rangers discovered not only tuna but also numerous other species including sea turtles.

The vessel was detected thanks to the new satellite monitoring system that is being used inside the Marine Reserve. This new system is mandatory for all Ecuadorian vessels over 20 tons and all movements are monitored in the control center. The vessel was seen slowing down and making irregular movements and immediately the National Park sent out a patrol to check on the fishing vessels activity.

The Don Mario was given permission to cross the waters of the Marine Reserve by the navy. Unfortunately, it is quite common for commercial vessels from Ecuador to pass through these waters on what is called an “innocent pass.” This time it appears their pass wasn’t so innocent.

The Don Mario has been ordered into port of Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island where it is officially being charged for fishing illegally inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve. The owner of the vessel has commented that his ship was fixing its engines at the time of capture and wasn’t fishing. Since they actually had their nets in the water, this statement will not hold up in court.

The capture of the Don Mario gives us the evidence we have been after for quite some time now. Commercial tuna boats for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela are fishing illegally inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Sea Shepherd Galapagos has been collecting tuna detection devices, so-called “tuna balls,” that are being found on a very regular basis inside the Marine Reserve. These tuna balls relay information about fish abundance, water temperature, and GPS location back to the commercial tuna boats and based on this information their ships are sent out to these locations to catch the tuna. Lucky for Sea Shepherd, the owners put their vessel’s names on the balls. Only days before the Don Mario was caught fishing, a local fisherman found one of their tuna balls floating at the exact same position as where the vessel was caught.

Sea Shepherd Galapagos has so far collected 15 balls from 15 different tuna boats and we suspect all of these vessels to be engaged in illegal fishing inside the Marine Reserve. Quite frequently, we also see these commercial tuna boats come into the ports of Galapagos on what is called a 48-hour emergency stop. Often they pretend to have a mechanical or a medical emergency in order to be allowed into port. It gives them a good opportunity to see if the Park boats are in port or out on patrol.

Obviously, the new satellite monitoring system is invaluable but in order to fully stop the possibility of poaching of the commercial tuna fleet, permission for them to pass through the Galapagos Marine Reserve must be denied at all times.

PHOTOS

map of fishing area

Don Mario tuna boat

Don Mario illegally fishing
credit Galapagos National Park

Collection of tuna balls
credit Sea Shepherd Galapagos

Sea Shepherd Sets Sights on a Mediterranean Campaign

2009-07-02T07:35:26Z

Sea Shepherd Sets Sights on a Mediterranean Campaign

The Slaughter of the Bluefin Tuna Must be Halted

The Mediterranean Sea must be closed to commercial fishing, and especially to the fishing of the bluefin tuna.

“The bluefin tuna will be commercially extinct within three years unless governments act now, act decisively and act aggressively,” said Captain Paul Watson, Executive Director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “Anyone who catches a bluefin, anyone who buys and sells a bluefin, and anyone who eats a bluefin tuna is an ecological criminal.”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is looking for a ship, volunteers, and sponsors to finance a major interventionist campaign against illegal fishing in the Mediterranean.

“There are more than 600 poaching vessels operating in the Mediterranean and they are literally wiping the living resources into extinction,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We must intervene and we must take whatever risks are required to drive these criminals from the sea. We have the experience and the courage to take on these thugs, all we need is the support.”

Actor Robert De Niro as a co-owner of the notorious Nobu restaurant chain has refused to use his influence to stop Nobu from purchasing bluefin and other endangered fish. “This makes him an ecological criminal in our book,” said Captain Watson. “He does not need the money. It is a mystery as to why a man with the stature of De Niro has chosen to be in cahoots with poachers. He is paid well to act as a gangster, is he so greedy that he now wants to be one?”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society holds the position that the worldwide catch of bluefin tuna must be reduced to zero.

The Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan is buying all the bluefin tuna they can get and freezing it, literally investing in the extinction of this magnificent warm-blooded, unique fish. Once gone, the bluefin will be extremely rare and Mitsubishi will be able to name their price.

Because of the avarice of companies like Nobu and Mitsubishi, worldwide populations of bluefin have been reduced by 90%, perhaps more.

“The killing must stop,” said Sea Shepherd France President Lamya Essemlali. “This continued slaughter is intolerable.”

The European Union quotas are being ignored. The regulations are being ignored. bluefin is being smuggled out of Europe like an expensive drug. From poacher to buyers to consumers, the trafficking in bluefin is a billion dollar criminal enterprise.

Tuna fishing is managed by the Madrid-based International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. This is a corrupt body that is only interested in protecting the investments of the fishing industries in its 45 member countries. They ignore their own science and have been setting quotas twice as high as the industry scientists are recommending.

Turkey is demanding higher quotas, and the poachers from various nations ignore the quotas altogether.

“Give me a ship and the resources to intervene,” said Captain Watson, “And I will patrol the Mediterranean on a campaign to destroy the nets of every illegally operated fishing vessel we can track down. We need to get tough on these poachers before we lose the bluefin forever.”

Canuck Kangaroo Court Condemns Seal Savers

2009-07-02T06:36:56Z

Canuck Kangaroo Court Condemns Seal Savers

Captain Alex Cornelissen and 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt have now been judged by Nova Scotia Judge Jean Whalen of exercising radical and criminal compassion for baby seals slaughtered by the East Coast barbarian sealers.

The two Sea Shepherd officers were taken prisoner by a Canadian Mounted police SWAT team in April 2008 when the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat was illegally boarded in international waters on the orders of Canadian Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn.

Their crime: documenting the cruel slaughter of seal pups. In Canada it is a violation of the Orwellian Seal Protection regulations to witness or document the killing of a seal by a Canadian sealer without a permit from the government of Canada.

Canada’s reasoning is that if people are prevented from witnessing the killing, than no one will care and Canada’s obscene national perversion can continue unobstructed.

After being arrested and released on bail, Alex and Peter were deported from Canada for life. In other words, they were sentenced to deportation without a trial.

This meant of course that they could not return to Canada to attend the trial in late April 2009. This was very convenient for Canada. The two could not return to Nova Scotia to defend themselves, so the judge ruled that they failed to appear and the trial was ordered to proceed without the defendants.

And surprise, surprise, the Judge ruled on June 30th, 2009 that both Alex and Peter have been found guilty of violating the “seal protection” regulations.

The sentencing for this horrific and dastardly offense will be delivered in September 2009. The maximum penalty is a $100,000 fine and/or 1 year in prison.

The penalty cannot be enforced outside of Canada and since both men are prohibited from returning to Canada for the rest of their lives than this means the sentence, whatever it will be, is irrelevant.

The court of course has ordered the seizure of the 5,000 doubloons ($10,000 Cdn) that the author Farley Mowat posted for their bail.

The court had previously ordered the confiscation of the ship Farley Mowat without a hearing or a trial. The ship was sold by the government of Canada for $50,000 with the government seizing the funds. In addition, the government pumped off and sold some $90,000 worth of diesel fuel. This represents a blatant act of piracy on the part of the Canadian government. They boarded and seized a Dutch registered ship in international waters, stole the possessions of 18 crewmembers they did not arrest, stole the ship, and then ordered two officers into a trial they were prohibited from attending, stole their bail money, and then justified it all in the name of defending the horrific cruelty and perversion of one of the most notorious and despicable wildlife slaughters in the world.

On the positive side for Sea Shepherd, the publicity generated from the 2008 arrest helped considerably in encouraging European Parliamentarians to vote for the bill to ban seal products into Europe.

In this case, Sea Shepherd may have lost a battle at sea and in the courts BUT we appear to have won the war. The economic damage inflicted upon the sealing industry is far greater than the economic impact on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, especially considering the fact that the Society was planning to retire the Farley Mowat after the seal campaign anyways.

We had made plans to berth the ship at the marine museum in New London, Connecticut right after the seal campaign. The ship was not meant to do any additional campaigns.

The Issue of Safety at Sea

2009-06-29T18:49:17Z

The Issue of Safety at Sea

Every year the International Whaling Commission brings up the issue of Safety at Sea despite the fact that the IWC has no jurisdiction, authority, or expertise regarding this issue.

Japan maintains that the activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society pose a threat to the safety of Japanese whalers.

The IWC is given only the Japanese version of events and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is not allowed to present evidence or to make a statement.

Instead of focusing on the activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Japan should be paying more attention to their own safety record.

In addition, the Greenpeace Foundation has been condemning the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for safety issues citing that Sea Shepherd actions pose a dangerous threat to the whalers.

The facts however speak for themselves.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has mounted five voyages to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. During these five voyages totaling 20 months at sea in waters from the Ross Sea to south of South Africa, the Sea Shepherd ships Farley Mowat, Robert Hunter and Steve Irwin have displayed an unblemished safety record.

The Japanese fleet has demonstrated an appalling safety record.

Whereas the Sea Shepherd ships have not suffered a single fatality, the whaling fleet has seen the death of three seamen since 2006.

Whereas the Sea Shepherd ships have not suffered any serious injuries, the whaling fleet has reported numerous injuries onboard their ships.

Whereas the Sea Shepherd ships have not experienced any onboard fires, the whaling fleet has experienced two major devastating onboard fires on the Nisshin Maru.

Whereas the Sea Shepherd ships have not suffered any ice damage, the harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 was forced to go to Indonesia in 2009 for repairs to it’s propeller.

During the confrontations, the Japanese whalers display no hesitation in targeting Sea Shepherd crew for bodily harm. They know that if they inflict a death or injuries on any of the Sea Shepherd crew that the government of Japan will defend and justify their actions.

The Sea Shepherd crew on the other hand must exercise every precaution to avoid causing even the most minor of injuries.

As a result the number of Sea Shepherd crew that have sustained injuries in these confrontations (fortunately minor injuries) has been five, whereas the number of whalers injured has been zero.

The Sea Shepherd ships have not deliberately rammed any whaling vessels. Collisions have occurred when the harpoon vessels have attempted to muscle their way past Sea Shepherd’s blockade of the factory ship Nisshin Maru.

During the last five voyages to Antarctica, there has not been a single criminal charge laid against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Our ships have not been arrested and not one of our crew has been arrested for any crime.

During this same period, the Australian Federal Court issued an order to the Japanese whaling fleet to cease and desist from whaling in the Australian Antarctic Territorial Waters. The Japanese whaling fleet is now in contempt of this order.

The Japanese whaling fleet is targeting endangered and protected whales in an established international whale sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on commercial whaling and in violation of the Antarctic Treaty, numerous regulations of the International Whaling Commission, and of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Japan continuously states that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has condemned the actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. This is true, but the IWC has also condemned so-called scientific whaling by Japan.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is up against one of the most powerful and wealthy nations on the planet and in opposition to a criminal industry controlled by powerful Yakuza clans (Japanese mafia). The very fact that we continue to operate in defiance of Japan’s power is a miracle in itself. They have engineered the removal of our flags of registry, they have caused us to be harassed at border points, they have made threats, and they have twisted the arms of governments in their efforts to stop our opposition to their illegal whaling operations.

We have no intention of surrendering to their power or retreating from our opposition to their illegal whaling. We must continue speaking truth to power and we will continue to physically oppose the Japanese whaling fleet exercising every precaution to avoid causing injury to the whalers, and exercising the restraint required to remain within the boundaries of the law.

One thing for sure however is that the Japanese whaling fleet poses a definite and lethal threat to the endangered whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The Japanese whaling fleet in addition to killing three of their own crewmembers is conducting a mass murder of whales and that is the greatest and most violent tragedy of all.

Double Whammy in the Galapagos: Two Busts in Two Days on Two Islands

2009-06-26T08:00:00Z

Double Whammy in the Galapagos: Two Busts in Two Days on Two Islands

Shark Fin Bust in Santa Cruz

On the evening of June 25th, 2009, the Ecuadorian Environmental Police, acting on information provided by Sea Shepherd Galapagos, raided a fisherman’s house on Santa Cruz Island. The Environmental Police were supported by the Galapagos National Park Service and the K9 Police Unit.

Thanks to the excellent work of the dogs and their guides, the police quickly found 52 large shark fins inside the house. The dried and fresh fins weighed about 30 pounds. They were cut from Black Tip sharks and Galapagos sharks. Additionally, the police confiscated a substantial amount of illegal fishing gear (hooks, nets, and long lines) used in the illegal shark fishing industry.

Although Ecuadorian law permits sharks to be caught as by-catch near the Ecuadorian mainland, fishing for sharks is absolutely prohibited inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

The shark fins have an estimated street value of $10,000.

The suspect is under detention. Sea Shepherd will continue to assist in the case to secure a conviction and proper sentence.

Lobster Bust on Isabela

Based on a Sea Shepherd investigation, the Environmental Police busted a lobster poacher and confiscated 176 lobsters Wednesday night on Isabela Island. The Ecuadorian Environmental Police raided the house of Jaime Fabián Cedeño Maldonado. Freezers in the back of the house contained over 100 pounds of illegally caught red and green lobsters. The lobsters, valued at approximately $2,500, were scheduled to be smuggled to mainland Ecuador for sale.

In response to the busts, Director of Sea Shepherd Galapagos, Captain Alex Cornelissen said, “This is just the beginning. We intend to end the pillaging of the protected waters of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, a United Nations World Heritage Site. This isn’t the wild west where robbers can steal what they want without repercussions.”

Galapagos law prohibits possessing or selling the red and green lobsters at this time of year. Lobster fishing season is strictly regulated because their populations have already been greatly diminished from overfishing.

The prosecutor on Isabela Island, Ismael Garcia Morales, issued an arrest warrant for Maldonado. Currently, Maldonado is on the run.

Sea Shepherd is working with the Ecuadorian Environmental Police, the Galapagos National Park Service, and legal advisors to ensure these and other poachers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

The fisherman being tried for the illegal shark finning operation under custody

Press Conference on Santa Cruz where the shark fin operation is exposed

Confiscated fish hooks

Officer with the illegally caught lobsters

all photos credit Sea Shepherd Galapagos

Sea Shepherd Announces New Antarctic Research Project

2009-06-25T03:03:50Z

Sea Shepherd Announces New Antarctic Research Project

Sea Shepherd Launches 6^th Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda

June 24th, 2009 – Funchal, Madeira, Portugal - The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society today officially announced Operation Waltzing Matilda – the 6th Sea Shepherd campaign to defend the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from Japanese poachers.

About 30 members of the media attended the press conference despite the hotel manager insisting that the meeting had to be low profile and held in the back of the lobby hidden by the bar.

“This is a research project,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We’ve decided to demonstrate our solidarity with the Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand Research projects. Our primary objective is to research non-lethal means for defending whales. Of course this may include research into Japanese ship’s hull plate thickness, vessel stress tests, and paint chip analysis, as well as observation of whaler behavior in response to olfactory stimulation.”

To illustrate the research theme of the Sea Shepherd campaign, Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director Laurens de Groot and Sea Shepherd UK Director Steve Roest donned inflatable boats marked “research” and armed themselves with Styrofoam harpoons to chase IWC delegates. In their attempt to get delegate “tissue samples” for research purposes, they had difficulty finding elusive Japanese whalers. However, Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett innocently stumbled into the path of the harpoons and because Australia is apparently voting to support the slaughter of Humpbacks in Greenland, he was considered a legitimate target.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be returning to the Southern Ocean in December for the 6th Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign. This year Sea Shepherd will be sending two ships to the Southern Ocean, the upgraded and fully repaired Steve Irwin and potentially the fast interceptor vessel Earthrace.

On board will be an Animal Planet film crew to document the 3rd season of Whale Wars.

“We are taking the most powerful anti-whaling weapon at our disposal: a film crew,” said Laurens de Groot, a Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director. “The cameras are more powerful than cannons and our ammunition is the naked truth about illegal whaling. We intend to keep the focus on Japanese crimes and we intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet – economically.”

An international crew of volunteers will crew the ships to the Southern Ocean but this year’s campaign will have an Australian face. For this reason the name Operation Waltzing Matilda has been chosen. This is the unofficial national anthem of Australia. Translated from Aussie it means "hiking with a bedroll or pack."

“Australians are the most passionate whale defenders on the planet,” said Captain Watson. “Operation Waltzing Matilda will reflect our gratitude to Australia for the incredible support we have received from the people of this wonderful nation since 2005. The Steve Irwin will depart in December from Western Australia with the majority of the crew being Australians.”

Kylie Herd, a Sea Shepherd crewmember from Perth attending the IWC Conference in Madeira said, “Our logo this year is modeled on the art that adorned the fighter planes of the legendary Flying Tigers who fought the Japanese Imperial forces in China. The colors of the Aboriginal and Australian flags have been incorporated into the design with the pirate kangaroo holding Neptune’s trident of justice. We intend to waltz down to the Southern Ocean to dance dangerously with the Japanese whaling fleet and we intend to unroll a Matilda full of defensive tactics for the whales against the Japanese whale poachers.”

Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda is scheduled to depart for the Southern Ocean on December 1st, 2009.

As usual, Sea Shepherd has some new surprises for the Japanese pirate whalers this year and the whalers will surely have some surprises for Sea Shepherd. The confrontations are escalating as the whalers lose more and more money each year. The Sea Shepherd crew intends to persist and will never retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary until the last harpoon has been silenced and the word “sanctuary” is understood once and for all. There is no retreat for Sea Shepherd from the whale wars, there is only victory or defeat for the whales, and we do not intend see the whales defeated, nor do we intend to let these blubber chewing murdering barbarian butchers win.

PHOTOS

all photos credit Deborah Bassett

Captain Watson with UK Director Steve Roest and
Netherlands Director Laurens De Groot
at the press conference conducting “research”

Captain Watson unveils the new whale defense campaign logo
with supporter Dave Rastovich, of Surfers for Cetaceans

Laurens De Groot conducts “research” on
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett

Imagine a World Without Fish

2009-06-24T06:05:33Z

Imagine a World Without Fish

End of the Line - The world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing

Already showing in cinemas across the U.S., Charles Clover’s film The End of the Line was launched in the UK on June 8^th which was World Oceans Day.

Sea Shepherd’s UK Director Steve Roest and volunteer Mark Sanders-Barwick attended a special preview screening of the film at the IMAX cinema in London on June 1^st.

After a champagne reception in the science museum surrounded by replicas of early planes, jet turbine engines, and other flying machines, over 350 guests filled the spectacular IMAX cinema to see the film.

Among the celebrity guests were Stephen Fry, Greta Scacchi, Geri Halliwell, Donna Air, and Sarah Brown, the Prime Minster’s wife.

Rupert Murray, the film’s director, introduced the evening with a brief speech of support from the Managing Director of Waitrose Mark Price. Later there was a lively Q&A session with the audience.

Roest observed, “The film is fantastic; could it be harder hitting – yes, should we stop eating fish altogether – yes, but The End of the Line superbly highlights the desperate state of our oceans as a result of relentless commercial overfishing. I received a personal commitment from Jeremy Langley [fish and shellfish specialist buyer for Waitrose] in front of 350 people that Waitrose would stop selling swordfish and other endangered fish, so a successful evening all round.“

The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Sundance took place in Park City, Utah, January 15-25, 2009.

In the film, we see firsthand the effects of the world’s global love affair with fish as food.

It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation.

Filmed over two years, the movie follows investigative reporter (and author of The End of the Line) Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans.

One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo, who is on the trail of those destroying the world's magnificent bluefin tuna population.

Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen, and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world.

Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.

The End of the Line chronicles how demand for cod off the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1990s led to the decimation of the most abundant cod population in the world. In 1984, Sea Shepherd Founder and President Captain Paul Watson warned the Canadian government that the Northern Cod fishery will collapse due to over-fishing unless immediate action is taken. The government ignored the warning, so in 1993 Sea Shepherd sailed to the Nose and the Tail of the Grand Banks and chased trawlers away that were engaged in overfishing. [Captain Watson was arrested and jailed for this, but two years later was acquitted]. The film confirms that, sadly, Sea Shepherd predicted this correctly.

The film also chronicles how hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how the idea of fish farms as a solution is a fallacy.

The film lays the responsibility squarely on consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, politicians who ignore the advice and pleas of scientists, fishermen who break quotas and fish illegally, and the global fishing industry that is slow to react to an impending disaster.

The End of the Line points to solutions that are simple and doable, but political will and activism are crucial to solve this international problem.

We need to control fishing by reducing the number of fishing boats across the world, protect large areas of the ocean through a network of marine reserves off limits to fishing, and educate consumers that they have a choice to end their seafood consumption entirely for the benefit of all ocean ecosystems.

Sea Shepherd Director Kurt Lieber commented, “Even though this movie did not touch on everything that Sea Shepherd is about, we hope it is a springboard for further dialogue because everyone on this planet is affected by overfishing and overexploitation of the oceans’ resources.”

We urge you to see the movie, take personal responsibility and actions where you can. And we continue to welcome your support for our direct action work to save fish and all ocean wildlife.

For more information and to find local screenings in the UK and US, visit:

http://endoftheline.com

Quotes from the Makers of the Film

We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment. We must act now to protect the sea from rampant overfishing so that there will be fish in the sea for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. -- Charles Clover, the book's author

Overfishing is the great environmental disaster that people haven't heard about." A recent global conference about bluefin tuna stocks saw almost no media coverage in the U.S. We hope this film really sounds the alarm. We can fix this problem starting right now. -- Producer George Duffield

Reading the book The End of the Line changed my life and what I eat. I hope the film will do the same for others. -- Producer Claire Lewis

The International Wacky Whaling Commission Gets Underway in Madeira

2009-06-23T06:50:00Z

The International Wacky Whaling Commission Gets Underway in Madeira

Report from Captain Paul Watson

Captain Watson lands in Portugal and is
promptly detained in Customs for four hours

The trip to the 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission became an adventure as soon as the TAP airliner landed at Funchal airport and Deborah Bassett and I walked from the runway into the arrival lounge.

I had no reason to be concerned as I walked up to Immigration Control and handed them my passport. The officer took the passport, ran the electronic strip through the machine and then I saw a serious look cross his face.

“Excuse me sir, there appears to be a problem,” He said.” I think someone else may have a name similar to yours. Do you mind waiting until we process the rest of the passengers?”

So Deborah and I retreated to the end of the line. When we reached the officer, he requested that we follow him to a small room where we then proceeded to sit for nearly four hours as our case was being investigated.

At one point the officer came into the room and asked if I had ever been in trouble in Portugal and then added, “Something about a Dutch ship about 10 years ago?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know anything about a Dutch ship 10 years ago,” I answered.

A few moments later he returned and said, “Excuse me, did you do anything illegal in the 70’s in Portugal?”

“I don’t think so. I uphold laws I don’t break them,” I responded.

“Well, it appears that you did something in Northern Portugal in the 70’s,” He said.

“Oh, they’re probably referring to when I chased the pirate whaler Sierra into Lexioes Harbor and rammed it twice. I don’t think that was illegal, I was never informed of any charges. The Port Captain was going to charge me with gross negligence but I told him there was nothing negligent about it, I hit the ship exactly where I intended to hit it. He told me he could not determine who the owner of the Sierra was and that I was free to go.”

The officer looked at me in disbelief then said, “There seems to be an outstanding warrant for something in connection with an incident in Northern Portugal, please wait here until I can get more information.”

I did not have much choice so I took a seat again. Deborah asked me what I thought would happen.

“Well,” I said, “there are three options that I can see. I get arrested and we have a news story, I get deported and we have a news story, or they let us into Madeira and we will have a news story, and all three options have potential.”

Finally, the officer returned and said we were free to go and free to enter Madeira. Apparently there was indeed a warrant for my arrest, and it had been issued in 1980. The warrant was in connection with our total destruction of the pirate whaler Sierra that we rammed in 1979. On February 6th, 1980, after repairs of over one million dollars, the Sierra was sunk dockside in Lisbon harbor.”

The warrant however expired in 2008.

Deborah and I proceeded through Customs where two friendly officers who were Whale Wars fans inspected our bags and then it was a taxi ride to the hotel to check in for the conference.

The next morning we could see the dozens of Portuguese police guarding the entrance to the hotel. Ironically, the major opponents against Japanese whaling (ourselves) were on the inside. We had booked rooms a year before and as registered guests we could not be ousted from the hotel.

The Portuguese government had deliberately decided to host the meeting in Madeira to make it difficult for protestors to come from mainland Europe. The police had also been instructed to prevent anyone entering the hotel wearing Sea Shepherd logos.

The 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission opened in the same boring manner as meetings in previous years. Dr. Roger Payne sarcastically commented that the same papers and discussions from 1971 would fit right into the present agenda.

On the bright side, the Australian delegation was actually talking tough for the first time since Senator Ian Campbell was Australia’s outspoken delegate to the Commission. The Japanese are muttering about putting Humpback whales on their kill list again. Greenland wants to kill humpbacks. Iceland wants to kill fin whales. Korea now wants to kill whales, Norway wants to kill more minke whales and Japan wants to kill everything that swims and breathes air.

Because Sea Shepherd is banned from attending the IWC meetings, the Sea Shepherd crew coming from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany and the United States hung around the entrance to the hotel and intimidated the whalers which is always fun.

A dozen members of the Japanese delegation were about to enter the outdoor poolside restaurant when they saw me sitting at the table. It was comical to see them stop, their jaws drop open wide, and then they quickly turned to scurry off in search of another restaurant.

The high point of the day for me was when Dr. Sydney Holt, one of the world’s leading and most distinguished authorities on whales and whaling and the IWC, approached me to tell me how much he supported Sea Shepherd and accepted my invitation to become a member of the Sea Shepherd Advisory Board.

At the end of the day the delegates and approved NGO’s and media headed off in buses for the Portuguese government’s cocktail reception. We of course were not invited, but we stood by the door and saw them off with smiles to the Japanese delegation, one of which snuck a picture of me. The U.S. whaling commissioner Bill Hogarth stopped and shook my hand in public, much to the horror of the on-looking Japanese delegates.

And thus ended Day One. My prediction is that once again, nothing will be resolved and nothing will be decided. Japan will bring up another motion to condemn Sea Shepherd, the whalers will whine for more victims, the whale defending nations will posture and pose and the outlaw whalers will continue to kill whales without any opposition other than that of the Sea Shepherd crew.

It is both ironic and absurd that the only organization that is actually saving the lives of the whales, that is actually intervening against illegal whaling, is the one organization not officially allowed into the IWC meetings.

This evening as the whalers and the anti-whalers rubbed elbows and drank Portuguese wine and port and both mutually criticized Sea Shepherd’s excessive tactics, the Sea Shepherd crew was meeting to organize the announcement in the next two days of our 6^th whale defense campaign to the Southern Ocean.

It’s a great thing being the Ladies of the Night of this movement. There are many delegates on the conservation side that agree with us but don’t want to be seen with us in the light of day. But the one great advantage of being banned from the IWC is that we don’t have to attend the boring meetings. We just need to monitor the rules and then head down to the Southern Ocean in December to kick the ass end of the Japanese whalers again.

PHOTOS

all photos credit Deborah Bassett

Captain Watson greets the Japanese delagation

Captain Watson being interviewed by Portuguese press

Captain Watson shakes hands with IWC commissioner Bill Hogarth

Oil Spill in the Galapagos, Tourist Boat Runs Aground

2009-06-19T05:19:55Z

Oil Spill in the Galapagos, Tourist Boat Runs Aground

On Friday June 12^th, the tourist boat Evolution ran aground near Española in the south of Galápagos. The hull suffered severe damages, a large hole under the waterline. Luckily the ship didn’t sink as the hole affected mostly one of their water/ballast tanks. The National Park boat the Sierra Negra was sent to give them assistance. For reasons unknown, the vessel was able to relocate right into the heart of the archipelago where it is presently sitting in exactly the same location as where the Mollendo ran aground only three weeks ago. None of the diesel was removed from the ship prior to its arrival here. The vessel arrived in Academy bay on Tuesday, June 16^th.

The Evolution, a vessel operated by tourist organization Quasar Náutica, had 3,000 gallons of diesel on board of which an unknown quantity has leaked into the bay of Puerto Ayora. According to the crew of the Evolution, this fuel was spilled during a transfer when one of the hoses used in the transfer came loose and fell into the water. Oil booms have been partially deployed around the vessel.

Even though it is said that no more fuel has leaked since, the smell of diesel was so strong that it would seem that quite a large quantity of fuel was spilled. The owners of the vessel are making temporary repairs; shortly the ship will be relocated to the continent for dry-docking.

Recently, the Ecuadorian Minister of Tourism said in an interview with one of the national Ecuadorian newspapers that she hopes that UNESCO will remove Galápagos from the list of World Heritage Sites in danger. She is under the impression that Ecuador has improved the reasons for being listed. One of these reasons being the ecological degradation of Galápagos due to increased tourist numbers. Yet here we have a tourist boat sitting in the centre of tourism in Galápagos leaking unspecified amounts of fuel. This is certainly not the first tourist boat to leak fuel, run aground, or sink over the last years. Regulations are not at all what they should be; many tourist boats are in extremely bad condition. Regularly, one sinks mysteriously and it is often suggested that the owners deliberately run their ships aground to be able to claim insurance money.

Only three weeks after the near catastrophe with the Mollendo, we are once again confronted with evidence that Galápagos is indeed in danger.

PHOTOS

Credit: Sea Shepherd Galapagos

Tourist boat Evolution in Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island

Partial deployment of oil booms

Tourist boat that ran into an island, apparently the man at the helm fell asleep

It is unknown how this will affect the life in the bay

Sea Shepherd Victory in the Canadian Courts

2009-06-18T19:23:18Z

Sea Shepherd Victory in the Canadian Courts

Canada Fails to Keep Captain Paul Watson from Going to Sea, All Transportation Charges Dropped in Canada

The government of Canada has once again failed in their attempts to maroon Captain Paul Watson on the shore.

Captain Watson was scheduled to appear in court on July 13th, 2009 on charges of operating a Canadian registered ship without a commercial license.

On June 17th, the case was dropped and all charges revoked. Captain Watson will not have to appear in a Canadian Court in July.

In 2006, while the Canadian registered Farley Mowat was in Antarctic waters, the Canadian Registry of Shipping through the Canadian Department of Transport changed the status of the Farley Mowat from yacht to commercial vessel. When the ship reached the next port of call in Cape Town, South Africa in early March, Captain Watson was informed by the South African Marine Safety Authority (SAMSA) that he was in violation of Canadian Department of Transportation regulations for operating a commercial vessel without the proper papers.

Captain Watson argued that the Farley Mowat was a yacht and that he had been Master of the Farley Mowat for three years with the full knowledge and recognition of the Canadian government. Captain Watson produced the ship’s registry. Saleem Modak, the safety inspector for SAMSA said he did not care what the registry said and in his opinion the Farley Mowat was not a yacht.

“A yacht is a white vessel that you sit on and have drinks with your friends,” he said with a straight face.

Captain Watson could not resist and replied, “You would think that in post apartheid South Africa there would be room for a black yacht.”

Modak was not amused and ordered the ship to be placed under arrest at the request of the government of Canada. Canadian, Japanese, and South African authorities then blocked every attempt to free the vessel in an attempt to prevent it from returning to the Southern Ocean to defend the whales.

After three months of bureaucratic red tape and with the situation looking irresolvable, the Farley Mowat quietly slipped out of the Cape Town harbor, flagless and without lights, to the freedom of the Ocean.

Three weeks later, the Farley Mowat arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia to a heroes welcome. A few months later, the ship acquired a Belize flag and left for Antarctica to hunt the whalers. Under Japanese pressure, Belize pulled the flag but not before the Farley Mowat and her crew were well on their way to the Ross Sea where for the next two months they opposed the Japanese fleet without a flag becoming in effect, a genuine pirate vessel.

The Canadian government informed Captain Watson that he would be charged with the unauthorized operation of a Canadian registered commercial ship. He was told that if he pleaded guilty to the charge he would be let off with a $27,000 fine.

Captain Watson refused to pay the fine and refused to plead guilty. The Canadian Department of Transport then advised Captain Watson that if he pleaded guilty he would only have to pay $10,000 in fines.

After consultation with the lawyers, Captain Watson agreed to pay the fine because the defense would cost considerably more.

The Canadian government then further demanded that not only must the fine be paid, but Captain Watson would have to sign an affidavit saying that he knowingly and willfully violated the law as well.

This Captain Watson absolutely refused to do so, and the case was set for trial beginning the 13th through to the 21st of July, 2009.

Captain Paul Watson’s defense was that he is fully qualified to command a vessel of any size that is registered as a yacht or non-commercial vessel. Captain Watson was given the Canadian registry for the Farley Mowat in 2002 with the full knowledge by Transport Canada that he would be Master. Previously, Captain Watson had been master of the Canadian registered Sea Shepherd vessel Sirenian. Captain Watson is also a former officer in the Canadian Coast Guard and had worked on Canadian Pacific Steamships. In addition he has served as Master on all Sea Shepherd vessels from 1978 to the present during which time he commanded five voyages to Antarctica, five voyages in the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and had acquired extensive navigational experience in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and in the Mediterranean, Tasman, South China, Norwegian, Arabian, Caribbean, and North Seas. He has also transited the Panama Canal a dozen times and has weathered numerous storms, hurricanes, and typhoons.

Captain Watson as Master from 1978 until the present has never lost a crewmember, had a crewmember seriously injured, lost a ship, suffered a grounding, or an oil spill, and has never been convicted of any marine violation. More than 4,000 crew have sailed under Captain Watson’s command.

Faced with this information and with a heavyweight lawyer, Terry La Liberte, the government of Canada has backed down and has officially dropped the charges against Captain Watson citing lack of evidence to support their case.

They had been hoping that Captain Watson would plead guilty without a fight. They were wrong.

Captain Paul Watson retains his good record of never having a single criminal felony conviction or a conviction for a maritime related offense.

“It’s tough taking on governments,” Captain Watson said in response to the decision to drop the case against him. “But one thing I have always had faith in is that in fighting politicians and bureaucrats, the best defense is the law. Once again the law has prevailed, and once again we have proven our case that what we do on the high seas is morally and legally justified. We don’t break the law, we uphold it.”

Says defense Terry La Liberte, “I am pleased to put the Crown to strict proof of their allegations which they were unable to do. My client instructed there could be no compromise of his principled position, and we have done so successfully.”

New Scientist Condemns So-Called Japanese Research Whaling

2009-06-18T04:25:53Z

New Scientist Condemns So-Called Japanese Research Whaling

With the International Whaling Commission’s 61st meeting in Madeira only a week away, the esteemed scientific publication New Scientist has published an article explaining why Japan’s whaling activities are not research.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has challenged the scientific validity of this so-called research for two decades.

This research is nothing more than a guise for commercial whaling activities. The Japanese whaling is a criminal operation in violation of the Antarctic Treaty, the regulations of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and numerous other international regulations.

New Scientist: Why Japan's whaling activities are not research
June 17th, 2009

by Nichola Raihani and Tim Clutton-Brock

Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227136.100-why-japans-whaling-activities-are-not-research.html

In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling to allow stocks to replenish. However, this ongoing ban allows member nations to grant themselves special permits to kill whales for scientific research, with the proviso that the whale meat is utilised following data collection.

Only Japan holds a special permit. Its current research programme, which started in 2000 and is run by the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), proposes to kill more than 1000 whales a year in the Antarctic and the western north Pacific. The stated objectives are to determine the population structure and feeding habits of several whale species, including endangered fin and sei whales, in order to "manage" stocks.

Japan has already been widely criticised for its whaling, which is generally seen as a thinly disguised hunting operation. But with the 2009 IWC meeting looming, it is worth rehearsing the arguments against scientific whaling.

Although Japan's early results produced useful information, recent advances in non-lethal techniques such as biopsies mean that data can now be obtained without killing whales. Similarly, it is no longer necessary to kill whales to work out what they have been eating, as this can be determined from DNA in samples of faeces.

The scientific impact of the research is also limited. Relatively little research is published in international peer-reviewed journals, compared with research programmes on other marine mammals such as dolphins. According to the ICR, scientific whaling has produced 152 publications in peer-reviewed journals since 1994. However, just 58 of these papers were published in international journals. The rest were IWC reports or articles published in domestic journals, largely in Japanese. Most of the findings are not circulated among the wider scientific community, and the failure to subject papers to impartial review renders the value of much of this literature questionable.

Whether the results from scientific whaling are useful for stock management has also been questioned. The Scientific Committee of the IWC has explicitly stated that the results generated by the Japanese Whale Research Program in the Antarctic (JARPA) "were not required for management". Independent research shows that the data may overestimate whale abundance by up to 80 per cent (Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol 242, p 295).

Finally, given that there is considerable variation in the capacity of different whale populations to recover from stock depletion (Marine Mammal Science, vol 24, p 183), the value of the research for understanding populations outside the Antarctic and western north Pacific - which may one day be reconsidered for commercial whaling - is limited. This fundamentally undermines the justification for scientific whaling.

Nichola Raihani is at the Institute of Zoology in London

Tim Clutton-Brock is Prince Philip Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Cambridge

credit Adam Lau / Sea Shepherd

Whale Wars Season 2 Premier Wins Top Ranking in the US

2009-06-10T05:33:57Z

Whale Wars Season 2 Premier Wins Top Ranking in the US

Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew featured in Whale Wars had nearly 1.2 million viewers for the Season Two premier on June 5^th, 2009 on Animal Planet. The action packed series, which covers Sea Shepherd’s previous Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign Operation Musashi to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, saw double digit gains from it’s first season average.

Animal Planet ranked #1 among all cable with males aged 25-54 at the 9 PM and 10 PM hours respectively (excluding movies).

“Whale Wars is one of the most exciting series in the network’s history and a terrific launch for our summer season with ten more weeks of amazing storytelling for the show’s fans,” noted Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet.

Said Captain Paul Watson, “We know that Sea Shepherd’s passion and determination to save the great whales from illegal Japanese harpoons makes for compelling television and we’re glad to see this important environmental issue becoming a part of mainstream media.”

Photo Credit: Adam Lau

Whale Wars Second Season Premieres June 5th

2009-06-05T17:20:36Z

Whale Wars Second Season Premieres June 5th

Donate now to help us save the whales!

Following the success of Whale Wars Season 1, which premiered in the US and Canada last fall and is currently airing internationally, Sea Shepherd looks forward to the highly anticipated second season airing Fridays at 9 PM on Animal Planet.

This upcoming second season of Whale Wars chronicles Sea Shepherd’s mission to end illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary during the Whale Defense Campaign Operation Musashi. As Sea Shepherd successfully intervened in the illegal slaughter of protected and endangered cetaceans, drama escalated as the Japanese whaling fleet struggled to try to retain their profits. In the end, Sea Shepherd saved the lives of over 300 whales, but not without a fight. Show viewers will see just how aggressive the Japanese whalers are willing to get in this remote section of the world, featuring at-sea collisions, zodiac chases, high-powered water cannons, and the use of an acoustic weapon: a long-range acoustical device (LRAD) normally used by the military.

The second season promises to be a huge success and will garner international attention on Sea Shepherd’s efforts to end illegal whaling in Antarctica

Premiering in the US on Friday, June 5^th on Animal Planet at 9 PM

Premiering in Canada on Wednesday, June 10^th at 9 PM ET/10 PM PT on Animal Planet

Watch the Promo for Season 2

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Whale Wars Season 1 – Airing Around the World

Whale Wars Season 1 is currently airing in Spain, Portugal, the Middle East, and South America – check your local TV guide for listings. Season 1 has also already aired in many countries around the world including Animal Planet Latin America; Discovery Channel UK; and the Discovery Channel in Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg – check your local listings for future airings of Season 2.

Sea Shepherd welcomes your donations and support via purchases in our e-Store!

Forty-four False killer whales euthanized in South Africa

2009-06-04T18:00:29Z

Forty-four False killer whales euthanized in South Africa

Last weekend, 55 False killer whales stranded themselves at Kommetjie Beach near Cape Town, South Africa, drawing a crowd of dozens of volunteers to observe and help the animals return to the water.

Despite efforts by locals to return the whales to the water, a decision was made by Mike Meyer of Marine Coastal Management (MCM) to euthanize the animals. The reason given was that the whales which had been returned to the ocean had preceded to re-beach further down the shore and that the MCM did not want the animals “to suffer unnecessarily.” Rather than continue efforts to rescue the whales and lead them to open water, the MCM declared the decision to euthanize the whales in order to “put the whales out of their misery.”

Forty-four of the 55 beached False killer whales were shot at point blank in range in front of the crowd, which included children. The observers were told to go home.

PHOTOS

photos credit Sophia van Coller

Sea Shepherd Galapagos Mollendo Update

2009-05-29T03:10:17Z

Sea Shepherd Galapagos Mollendo Update

The Mollendo has left the anchoring position in Academy Bay, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos with an unknown destination. Media on board the Mollendo at the time of it's grounding report that the Peruvian crew was furious at the local Port Captain. The ship has been inspected by divers and is said to have not sustained any damages. According to the officials that inspected the vessel prior to it's coming to Puerto Ayora, there was nothing wrong with the vessel. It is surprising why the bunker fuel was not discovered during the inspection, as 24,000 gallons is quite a substantial amount to be overlooked. The Peruvian navy is being accused of not reporting the unauthorized fuel.

There is obviously a lot more at stake here, as Ecuador and Peru have a history of fighting and this incident has severely strained an attempt to improve the relationship between the two countries.

The Galapagos Islands are also paced on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in danger and with the upcoming UNESCO meeting in June, Ecuador is trying it's best to be removed from that list.

The question is: should the Galapagos Islands be removed from the endangered list? Sea Shepherd Galapagos analyzes: The Galapagos Islands have been placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in danger for the following reasons:

1. Illegal immigration:
The official government numbers of inhabitants of Galapagos are seriously understated. According to the last report, there are only 18,000 people that live on Santa Cruz Island. However, a large number of illegal immigrants are employed in construction and tourism. Most inhabitants of Santa Cruz Island see that the sheer number of people in the capital Puerto Ayora greatly exceeds the official data. Estimates of the total population range between 23,000 and 29,000. Despite several large-scale operations that removed some of the illegal immigrants, more come every day or remain on the islands still.

2. Tourism:
Galapagos has seen a constant increase in tourist numbers and reached a staggering number between 160,000 and 180,000 tourists in 2008. The first quarter of 2009 actually saw a drop for the first time ever, but this was caused by the economic crisis, not due to more sustainable policies. Several studies indicate that a sustainable number of tourists for the Galapagos would be between 40,000 and 60,000 a year.

Regardless, more tourist activities are being developed to attract yet more people. There are six flights coming from the continent every day full of passengers, and talks are to open a third airport on the less visited island Isabela. No matter how ecological the tours are made, the sheer number is more than Galapagos can handle.

3. Introduced plants and animals:
Despite the best intentions, we are still seeing an increase in introduced plants and animals. The Blackberry plague is not under control, nor are many of the others. There is no fumigation on board the cargo ships that come in. We now have more introduced plants and animals than endemic ones. The Mediterranean fruit fly and mosquitoes carrying dengue fever are some of the latest additions to our exotics. Every year we see new breeds of dogs enter the islands despite strict regulations that do not allow any cats or dogs to be brought to Galapagos. It won't be long before there are more huskies in Galapagos than in Alaska.

Reasons UNESCO hasn't listed but should be considered:

4. Illegal fishing:
This continues every day. It is a well-known fact among the people of Galapagos that fishermen from Isabela go out every night and catch sharks. The sharks are finned and the fins are smuggled to the continent. It is also common knowledge that the authorities on Isabela are not able to or not willing to act against this.

Sea Shepherd is also collecting fish tracking devices from commercial tuna boats that local fishermen find inside the marine reserve. The sheer number of these balls indicates there is large-scale illegal fishing for tuna inside the marine reserve.

Seahorses and sea lion penises continue to be the target of other poaching operations.
Fishermen from the continent even when caught illegally fishing inside the marine reserve declare they will return at the first possibility because the penalties are so low it is worth taking the risk.

5. Lack of emergency procedures:
Nobody knows what to do if we have a serious environmental catastrophe; there are no guidelines, let alone a disaster plan. Materials are insufficient or even unavailable.

6. Lack of cooperation between some of the governmental institutions:
Often this has grounds in disputes over jurisdiction.

Sea Shepherd Galapagos will continue investigating this case, all responsible parties need to be held accountable for their mistakes.

Icelandic Harpoon Illegally Kills Its First Whale for 2009

2009-05-28T06:49:02Z

Icelandic Harpoon Illegally Kills Its First Whale for 2009

Renegade Icelandic whalers slaughtered their first whale of the season at 22:40 GMT on May 26^th, 2009.

Sea Shepherd recently received the following report from an Icelandic citizen:

-----Original Message-----
From: (Name and e-mail address withheld)
Sent: Tue 5/26/2009 7:15 PM
To: inform-us
Subject: Please help me! I am ashamed to be Icelandic! The first whale was murdered at 22:40GMT on the 26th of May

Hello- I am writing to you because I do not know what else to do! The first whale was murdered or at least shot at 22:40 GMT 26th of May! If not killed immediately it will be tied to the boat and dragged around suffering the anguish until next victim is found and shot! I am so, so ashamed now to be an Icelander! There is permission to hunt and kill 99 more. The whale watching industry is devastated and those Icelanders that are against these murders. It is as if our government has lost their ears. A few powerful bullying whalers have got their will and now the killings have started! The only way to stop this is to let it cost the Icelandic economy more to hunt and kill whales than the few foreign currencies earned by few by selling whale meat! Iceland should be banned and Icelandic products until these killings have stopped. Living in this small community, I actually fear for my safety going out with my opinion in public! Whalers are a bullying tribe, and a shame for our country! Somehow, I wish the worldwide community to put pressure on the Icelandic government. Please help me and make these killings stop!

(Name withheld)
------------------------------

The Icelandic whalers are targeting endangered fins in blatant violation of the global moratorium on commercial whaling and in defiance of the regulations of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

In 1986, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society shut down illegal whaling activities in Iceland by scuttling half the Icelandic whaling fleet.

In 2007, the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat was en route to Iceland to oppose illegal whaling when Iceland announced it would discontinue whaling activities.

Sea Shepherd's Whale Defense Campaign Operation Ragnarok appears to be back on active status.

Iceland is one of the world's three criminal whaling nations. This axis of brutality and eco-crime includes Japan, Norway, and Iceland.

###

Navy Ship Mollendo Runs Aground in Galapagos Islands

2009-05-25T19:47:07Z

Navy Ship Mollendo Runs Aground in Galapagos Islands

On Saturday night May 23^rd the Peruvian navy training ship the Mollendo ran aground in Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. The Mollendo, a 153-meter ship, had been given special permission from President Correa to enter the Galapagos National Park for training purposes. With this permission the president overruled the Galapagos National Park Service, who had denied entry to this ship. The reason for denial by the Park was that they carry bunker fuel, which is absolutely prohibited inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve. It is unknown why the President would give such permission despite strict Park regulations. Apparently, the exercises are part of a cultural exchange between Ecuador and Peru.

Unconfirmed sources report that the Mollendo carries 24,000 gallons of bunker fuel and 200,000 gallons of diesel.

A requirement for any foreign vessel or any vessel without knowledge of these waters is to have a local pilot on board. The Port Captain of Santa Cruz personally went on board and was actually at the helm of the Mollendo when it ran aground. Taking a ship of that size so close to shore in an area that is known for it's reefs is unheard of in the Galapagos.

On Sunday, the National Park together with the Ecuadorian navy, environmental police and the cargo ship Angelina used the high tide to pull the ship free. Oil booms were deployed in case the hull would suffer damage and fuel leak out. After about one hour of pulling at 13.45 pm the Mollendo started moving away until it was finally free floating at 14.00 pm. It is unknown how bad the damage to the reef is. The ship was either very close or on top of a reef that has a fair number of white tip sharks.

Presently the ship is sitting at anchor at a safe distance while damages to the vessel are being assessed.

To this point, the ship has not leaked any fuel. The consequences of such a spill would have been catastrophic as the entire bay would have been flooded with bunker fuel destroying mangroves and most of the life present. Credit goes to all parties involved with the refloating operation to help prevent this damage from happening.

There is no adequate disaster plan in the Galapagos to deal with situations like these, even after the Jessica oil spill in January 2001 off San Cristobal Island. The oil booms the National Park has at their disposal are not only too short, 300 meters to cover a 153 meter vessel, they are also insufficient for a disaster of this magnitude.

UNESCO should see no reason to remove the Galapagos Islands from the endangered list unless strict measures are taken to prevent these situations from happening.

Navy Ship Mollendo runs aground in the Galapagos, Credit: Sea Shepherd Galapagos

$36,000+ Donated • 38,000+ Petitions Signed • 130+ Media Outlets

2009-05-21T20:01:59Z

$36,000+ Donated · 38,000+ Petitions Signed · 130+ Media Outlets

Sea Shepherd and LUSH Seal Defense Campaign a Major Success

On March 16, 2009, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics North America and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society launched a hard-hitting North American campaign to end Canada's controversial commercial seal hunt. How did Sea Shepherd supporters and LUSH customers help with this extremely successful campaign?

You signed 38,015 postcard petitions; you signed 9,681 online petitions; you bought 5,533 First Swim Bubble Bars (the entire stock); and you helped LUSH donate US $36,894.02 to Sea Shepherd from the sales of the First Swim bubble bar and Charity Pot lotion combined.

"Sea Shepherd is extremely grateful to LUSH for their efforts to bring this issue into the spotlight. After witnessing the cruel slaughter of seals first hand and devoting most of my life to bringing it to an end, I am hopeful that the increased public awareness through the LUSH campaign for the seals will aid the efforts by those of us working to stop this barbaric practice once and for all." -- Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd

A new bubble bar in the shape of a baby seal was created especially for this campaign. Called "First Swim" because many baby seals are slaughtered so young they haven't even had a chance to go in the water, 100% of the proceeds from this bubble bar were donated to Sea Shepherd in recognition of the over 30 years that Captain Watson and Sea Shepherd have been battling against this cruel and unnecessary hunt.

Sea Shepherd was also made a recipient of LUSH North America's Charity Pot program, exclusively during this campaign, and jointly with other non-profits for the next several months. Sea Shepherd encourages its supporters to consider purchasing this product (a hand and body lotion made with animal friendly ingredients) with our Jolly Roger logo on the lid while it remains available.

LUSH Charity Pot

To purchase a Charity Pot

Canadians click here

Everywhere else click here

LUSH is the first company in Canada to take a national stand on this issue. This in-store campaign across Canada and the United States, with the assistance of LUSH shop staff and a new seal brochure jointly created by LUSH and Sea Shepherd, resulted in a great deal of outreach. The windows of LUSH stores were dominated by a giant picture of a baby harp seal with the words "End Canada's License to Kill" splattered in red paint. Postcard petitions were distributed at all participating LUSH stores.

On March 18, 2009, Sea Shepherd Development Director Alex S. Earl and several Sea Shepherd supporters were present at LUSH's Queen Street store in Ontario, Canada to support LUSH employee Kristi while she stripped down to virtually nothing with red paint and lied on a bloody Canadian flag in front of the store. LUSH store employees dressed as pirates at participating stores including this one. Also on March 18, 2009, Sea Shepherd Director of Shark Conservation Kim McCoy was joined by crewmembers Shannon Mann, and Laurens De Groot at the downtown Seattle, Washington LUSH store to support the store staff in handing out postcard petitions.

On March 19, 2009, Captain Watson, spoke at the LUSH Georgetown store in Washington, D.C., in support of this campaign. Joined by LUSH staff he also attended the Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C., and encouraged those attending the festival to sign postcard petitions.

On March 24, 2009, Sea Shepherd Media Manager Amy Baird was present at the LUSH Robson Street store in Vancouver, British Columbia, to support LUSH North America Co-Owner Karen Wolverton as she showed her support for the seals by being covered with red paint and lying on a bloody Canadian flag in front of the store.

On March 26, 2009, Sea Shepherd supporters were on hand to support another event at the LUSH Government Street store in Victoria, British Columbia.

Erika, Sen. Harb, Alex S. Earl, Tricia

On May 2, 2009, Sea Shepherd Development Director Alex S. Earl met with representatives of LUSH in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Robson Street LUSH store to hand over 38,015 signed postcard petitions (politicians often regard every complaint they receive as representative of 1,000 others who share the same opinion) to Canadian Senator Mac Harb. Senator Harb took possession of these signed postcard petitions opposing the Canadian commercial seal hunt with the assurance that each petition will be delivered directly to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the nation's capitol in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Canadian commercial seal hunt is currently the largest slaughter of marine mammals anywhere on the planet. Senator Harb has worked tirelessly to end this hunt. He introduced legislation in March which if passed would amend The Fisheries Act. While no other Senator backed his proposal to put this bill to a vote in the Canadian Senate, Senator Harb stands alone as the only Canadian politician since the 1970s to openly speak out against the Canadian government annual slaughter of seals.

A global movement against Canada's seal hunt is reaching a tipping point. The United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Ireland have complete bans against the importation of Canadian seal products. As of May 5, 2009, the European Union (EU) has voted to ban the sale of seal products (including those from Canada) in the 27-nation EU. The world's sealing nations, with Canada's hunt being the largest, are in greater contravention of global opinion than ever. With few commercial markets remaining open, the end of the seal hunt is near. It is the profound hope of Sea Shepherd and LUSH that the delivery of these petitions along with the combination of the EU vote will help to end this cruel slaughter once and forever.

These multiple events, combined with the campaign, generated a great deal of media interest and coverage in over 130 media outlets across North America and globally including television, radio, newspaper, and online. Eleven TV news stations interviewed LUSH store staff and customers. Over 80 websites/blogs covered this important issue. This includes JapanToday.com, USA Today.com, NBC New York, 1410 Talk Radio Vancouver, Global TV, CTV, KOMO 4 News, Le Journal De Montreal, the Detroit News and Free Press, and the Arizona Republic. The following is a sampling of this media coverage:

* Ecorazzi: LUSH Cosmetics Just Says No To Canadian Seal Hunt
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/03/23/lush-cosmetics-just-says-no-to-canadian-seal-hunt/

* Metro News: Lush boss opposes hunt
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/Local/article/202503--lush-boss-opposes-hunt

* Guelph Mercury: Guelph workers don pirate garb to protest seal hunt
http://news.guelphmercury.com/article/453995

* Seattle PI: Protest du Jour: Pirates at Westlake. Argh!
http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/164482.asp

Additional coverage can be browsed in these PDF documents of newspaper and online news articles

Canadian Newspaper Articles
March 2009
PDF 5MB

LUSH Seal Campaign
Online Clippings
PDF 5MB

Sea Shepherd thanks all supporters who signed petitions, purchased a First Swim bar and/or Charity Pot, or more. Sea Shepherd also extends its profound thanks to LUSH North America: Mark and Karen Wolverton, Erika, Tricia, Brandi, Sean, Jen, and countless others in marketing, media, campaigns, and manufacturing. LUSH is a company that is not afraid to take a stand on behalf of animals and the environment worldwide, and Sea Shepherd is grateful for it. If the opportunity presents itself, please stop into one of their stores to thank them personally.

Sea Shepherd News - Sea Shepherd

Alice in LUSH Land Defending the Sharks

Alice in LUSH Land Defending the Sharks

Artist Alice Newstead and LUSH Cosmetics Express Empathy For the Suffering of the Sharks

Japan Attempts Amendment of Dutch Statutes

Japan Attempts Amendment of Dutch Statutes

Illegal Tuna Fishing Operation Caught in the Galapagos

Illegal Tuna Fishing Operation Caught in the Galapagos

PHOTOS

Sea Shepherd Sets Sights on a Mediterranean Campaign

Sea Shepherd Sets Sights on a Mediterranean Campaign

Canuck Kangaroo Court Condemns Seal Savers

Canuck Kangaroo Court Condemns Seal Savers

The Issue of Safety at Sea

The Issue of Safety at Sea

Double Whammy in the Galapagos: Two Busts in Two Days on Two Islands

Double Whammy in the Galapagos: Two Busts in Two Days on Two Islands

Shark Fin Bust in Santa Cruz

Lobster Bust on Isabela

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Sea Shepherd Announces New Antarctic Research Project

Sea Shepherd Announces New Antarctic Research Project

Sea Shepherd Launches 6th Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda

PHOTOS

Imagine a World Without Fish

Imagine a World Without Fish

End of the Line - The world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing

The International Wacky Whaling Commission Gets Underway in Madeira

The International Wacky Whaling Commission Gets Underway in Madeira

PHOTOS

Oil Spill in the Galapagos, Tourist Boat Runs Aground

Oil Spill in the Galapagos, Tourist Boat Runs Aground

PHOTOS

Sea Shepherd Victory in the Canadian Courts

Sea Shepherd Victory in the Canadian Courts

New Scientist Condemns So-Called Japanese Research Whaling

New Scientist Condemns So-Called Japanese Research Whaling

Whale Wars Season 2 Premier Wins Top Ranking in the US

Whale Wars Season 2 Premier Wins Top Ranking in the US

Whale Wars Second Season Premieres June 5th

Whale Wars Second Season Premieres June 5th

Watch the Promo for Season 2

Whale Wars Season 1 – Airing Around the World

Forty-four False killer whales euthanized in South Africa

Forty-four False killer whales euthanized in South Africa

PHOTOS

Sea Shepherd Galapagos Mollendo Update

Sea Shepherd Galapagos Mollendo Update

Reasons UNESCO hasn't listed but should be considered:

Icelandic Harpoon Illegally Kills Its First Whale for 2009

Icelandic Harpoon Illegally Kills Its First Whale for 2009

Navy Ship Mollendo Runs Aground in Galapagos Islands

Navy Ship Mollendo Runs Aground in Galapagos Islands

$36,000+ Donated • 38,000+ Petitions Signed • 130+ Media Outlets

$36,000+ Donated · 38,000+ Petitions Signed · 130+ Media Outlets

Sea Shepherd and LUSH Seal Defense Campaign a Major Success

LUSH Charity Pot

View more photos

Sea Shepherd Launches 6^th Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda