SSCS in the News
Welcome to our news page where you can read about the most significant worldwide media coverage Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has recently garnered. Part of Sea Shepherd’s mission is to document and expose the atrocities being committed against marine wildlife and their habitats, therefore every press report whether in a magazine, newspaper, online, radio, and/or television is invaluable to us and the awareness we strive for.
Please come back and visit frequently as we update press coverage on a regular basis. Most recent entries are shown first.
To view articles from 2010 and earlier, please visit our SSCS in the News Archive page.
Recent Coverage
February 11, 2013 -- E&E Publishing, LLC - United States
Sea Shepherd takes fight against Japanese whalers to Supreme Court
Note: Subscription is required
An environmental group known for confronting whaling ships at sea asked the Supreme Court today to lift an injunction barring it from maneuvers that harass Japanese whalers. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society filed an appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order in December requiring the nonprofit to stay at least 500 feet away from Japanese whaling ships....read more
January 16, 2013 -- The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Chili Peppers back anti-whaling team
The US rock band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, will dedicate their headline show at Big Day Out to hardline conservationists Sea Shepherd.
The band, who have reportedly requested a "meditation room" and "non-alcoholic beers" before their Friday performance in Homebush, are keen supporters of the controversial environmental society.
Their performance will be accompanied by Sea Shepherd "digital visuals", incorporated into the main stage's backdrop.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, is on the board of directors for the organisation....read more
January 09, 2013 -- CNN - United States
'Whale Wars' TV star-activist resigns after court injunction
"Whale Wars" TV conservationist Paul Watson quit his conservation society Tuesday because of a recent federal court injunction against him and his group's anti-whaling activities.
Last month, the Japanese research foundation Institute of Cetacean Research and the Japanese firm Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. secured a U.S. District Court injunction against Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, according to the institute's website....read more
January 04, 2013 -- The Guardian - United Kingdom
Thousands of shark fins found drying on Hong Kong rooftop - video
Environmentalists are outraged after approximately 18,000 shark fins were discovered drying out on a rooftop in Hong Kong, hidden from public view. The delicacy, often used in soup, is very popular in China. But the practice of fisherman removing the animal's fin and throwing it back into the sea to die, and the over-harvesting of sharks, has begun to change public opinion...read more
January 01, 2013 -- The Australian - Australia
Bob Brown joins Sea Shepherd board
Dr Brown, who retired from the Greens leadership and the Australian Senate last year, will join Sea Shepherd Australia's board of directors early this year, the organisation announced on its website.
Dr Brown, who is a long-time friend of the Sea Shepherd's public face Paul Watson, said he had long admired the group's activism in trying to prevent Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.
"It is an honour to join the Board of Sea Shepherd Australia, whose mission, backed by the majority of Australians, is to protect nearly 1000 whales from the Japanese slaughter fleet this summer," he said....read more
December 18, 2012 -- The Age - Australia
Whalers win injunction against Sea Shepherd
Japan's whalers have won an injunction in a United States court against Sea Shepherd, restraining the anti-whaling group from attacking their ships in the Southern Ocean.
The decision by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was described as "somewhat astonishing" by Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson on Tuesday.
It follows an appeal to the court by Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research against the decision of a US District Court judge refusing an injunction earlier this year....read more
December 11, 2012 -- Reuters - United States
Anti-whaling activists unveil latest ship, bought from Japan
Anti-whaling activists unveiled on Tuesday their latest weapon against Japanese whalers in the frigid Southern Ocean, a $2 million ship funded by the producer of The Simpsons television series and purchased in secret from the Japanese government.
The 56-metre (184 ft) 'Sam Simon', which docked in the southern Australian port of Hobart, brings the hardline anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's fleet to four, just one vessel smaller that Japan's whaling fleet....read more
December 11, 2012 -- Huffington Post - United States
For the past eight years the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) led by Captain Paul Watson has prosecuted its anti-whaling campaigns in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary near Antarctica and disrupted the annual Japanese whaling hunt. This year another ship is being added to the expanding Sea Shepherd fleet, the SSS Sam Simon, named after The Simpsons co-creator whose generous donation made the purchase possible. The Sam Simon, along with the existing fleet comprised of the SSS Steve Irwin, the SSS Bob Barker and the SSS Bridget Bardot are en route to once again interdict Japanese whaling operations...read more
December 05, 2012 -- The Guardian - United Kingdom
Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson returns to Antarctic after months on the run
The founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is returning to Antarctic waters to track and confront Japanese whaling fleets, months after skipping bail in Germany and going on the run.
From aboard a Sea Shepherd ship, Paul Watson told Associated Press on Tuesday that his job is to protect whales, and he can't do that if he's in custody. He said the Sea Shepherd fleet is already in the Southern Ocean....read more
November 02, 2012 -- The Australian - Australia
Sea Shepherd fleet bound for Japanese waters
MILITANT conservationist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson will join this year's campaign against Japanese whalers despite an Interpol notice for his arrest, the group says.
The Canadian national has not been seen since he skipped bail in Germany in July on charges stemming from a high-seas confrontation over shark finning in 2002, but he has pledged to lead the fight against the harpoonists....read more
October 26, 2012 -- The Age - Australia
Sea Shepherd fleet bound for Japanese waters
Sea Shepherd activists are planning to take their Antarctic anti-whaling campaign to Japan's doorstep for the first time, in a direct challenge to the Asian power.
The group's ships will head north from Sydney and Melbourne within days, in what they say is a bid to engage the whaling fleet in its home waters.
"The plan is for our fleet to be meeting their fleet in the North Pacific off Japan," the group's deputy leader Peter Hammarstedt told Fairfax. "We are planning to take the battle pretty much up to Japan itself."...read more
October 23, 2012 -- Ecorazzi - United States
Sea Shepherd to 'Surprise' Japanese Whaling Fleet with New Vessel
While we’ve known since late June that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was on the verge of adding another ship to its fleet, the actual identity of the vessel has remained a closely-guarded secret.
Turns out it’s all by design as the SSCS are not keen to unwrap the new M/V Sam Simon (named after “The Simpsons” co-creator that’s funding its purchase) until Operation Zero Tolerance is underway in the Southern Ocean. As Sea Shepherd’s Senior Media Relations Manager Lisa Agabian told me, the hope is that “we may retain the element of surprise against the Japanese whaling fleet.”...read more
October 10, 2012 -- Tico Times - Costa Rica
At 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, President Laura Chinchilla, flanked by Environment Minister René Castro and noted conservationist and billionaire owner of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, signed a presidential decree that bans the practice of shark finning, as well as the importation and transportation of shark fins....read more
October 8, 2012 -- Newsweek - United States
Sea Shepherd’s Anti-Whaling Campaign
Japan’s government-subsidized whaling program is in dire straits. Last week the Institute of Cetacean Research, as the program is called, reported a $20.5 million loss, and blamed the activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for making them abandon their Antarctic hunt two weeks early....read more
October 4, 2012 -- The Mainichi - Japan
Diet panel to probe diversion of disaster recovery funds for other purposes
During the explanatory meeting, the legislators called into question the diversion of funds earmarked for disaster recovery projects to eight other projects, including boosted measures to protect research whaling ships from attacks by the anti-whaling organization Sea Shepherd and an Okinawa Prefecture national highway improvement and construction project....read more
October 3, 2012 -- New York Times - United States
Japan: Whaling Group Suffers Financial Loss
The Institute of Cetacean Research, the government group that operates Japan’s widely criticized research whaling, suffered a nearly crippling financial blow last year when its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean was disrupted by an environmental group, a Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday. It said the institute suffered a loss of $20.5 million, requiring additional financing from the government. The newspaper said the group, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, limited the whaling fleet’s catch to 172 whales, or one-third of its take the year before. The institute relies on the sale of whale meat to finance a large part of its operations, experts say...read original article
September 23, 2012 -- Japan Times - Japan
Scrutiny of Tohoku reconstruction funds needed
Last December there was a mild eruption of indignation when it was reported that some of the money earmarked for reconstruction of areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 would go to protect research whaling from interventionists like Sea Shepherd. Greenpeace and a few other organizations claimed the use of these funds for such a purpose was improper, but the fisheries ministry insisted it was perfectly in line with the policy set forth when the reconstruction budgets were approved, since whaling was integral to the economies of some communities in the disaster-hit area....read more
September 21, 2012 -- The Mainichi - Japan
Yoroku: Noda should 'exterminate termites' that eat away at disaster recovery funds
On Sept. 9, the "NHK Special" program aired by the public broadcaster reported that funds set aside for disaster recovery projects had been diverted to anti-terrorism and anti-Sea Shepherd measures, amazing residents of disaster-ravaged areas. Needless to say, over half of 19 trillion yen allocated for disaster recovery efforts over the five-year period following the quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis will be raised by tax hikes....read more
March 9, 2012 -- ABC Radio Australia News - Australia
Japan recalls its whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean
Japan's Fisheries agency has told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the country's whaling fleet is heading home, after catching less than a third of its quota in the Antarctic.
That's despite the fleet getting an extra 31.9 million US dollars this year.
Speaking to the ABC in Tokyo the Japanese Fisheries Agency revealed the whaling fleet finished its hunt three days ago and is now heading for home. .....more
March 5, 2012 -- Time - United States
Anti-Whaling Group Claims Win After Fracas
Anti-whaling activists claimed Tuesday that they have effectively ended this year's Japanese hunt following a late-night altercation near Antarctica, but the whalers said their season will continue.
The activists said they finally found the main factory ship after playing cat-and-mouse with the whalers for the past two weeks. The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker confronted the whaling ship Nisshin Maru at midnight Monday about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from the Antarctic coastline. .....more
March 1, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Sea Shepherd claims anti-whaling victory in trick
Radical environmental group Sea Shepherd claims they have tricked Japanese whalers by luring them near to New Zealand's Auckland Islands while another of its vessels gets away.
On Monday the organisation said its two ships were seeking refuge in the Auckland Islands, 1000 kilometres south of Bluff, and planned to refuel them there.
They demanded New Zealand instruct two pursuing Japanese vessels not to enter territorial waters.
But now Sea Shepherd Paul Watson said it was a ruse. .....more
February 22, 2012 -- Dominion Post - Australia
Sea Shepherd ship to set sail from Wellington
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessel Bob Barker will head back down to the Southern Ocean when it sails out of Wellington tonight to begin another anti-whaling campaign.
It has been berthed at Wellington's Taranaki Street wharf for the past week while refuelling and taking on supplies before sailing south to once again to protest against the actions of the Japanese whaling fleet.
Phil Peterson, Bob Barker crewman, said the plan was once again to team up with sister-ship the Steve Irwin. .....more
February 22, 2012 -- Yahoo News - United States
Japan court clears anti-dolphin-hunt activist
A Japanese court on Wednesday ruled that a Dutch supporter of militant environmentalist group Sea Shepherd was not guilty of assaulting a man in a dolphin-hunting town.
Erwin Vermeulen, 42, was indicted for allegedly punching the man in December in the town of Taiji when he was stopped from entering an off-limits area near a secluded bay where large and bloody dolphin hunts take place. .....more
February 19, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Dolphin activist released from jail
A Dutch environmentalist has been ordered to be released from a Japanese jail pending a judge's verdict in the case against him.
Erwin Vermeulen, a volunteer with the Cove Guardians group of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was arrested and charged with assault after he was said to have shoved an employee of the Dolphin Resort Hotel in the town of Taiji.
At the time, Mr Vermeulen was trying to take photographs of Risso's dolphins as they were being transferred between holding pens at the resort, Sea Shepherd said. .....more
February 16, 2012 -- NPR - United States
Japanese Whalers Sue In Seattle To Stop Sea Shepherd 'Harassment'
A federal judge in Seattle Thursday refused a request for protection made by Japanese whalers. The whalers were hoping to put a stop to almost daily harassment by an aggressive anti-whaling group based in western Washington.
U.S. federal district court judge Richard Jones did not give a reason for denying the request for a preliminary injunction. It would have prevented the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society from interfering with the Japanese whaling fleet. .....more
February 15, 2012 -- Herald Scotland - Scotland
Marine charity wants 'zero kill' policy to protect seals
A WILDLIFE charity is calling on ministers to introduce "a zero kill" policy for seals and afford them the same level of protection awarded to birds of prey.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says the Scottish Government's new system of issuing licences to shoot seals, which will allow more than 1000 to be killed this year, is simply a charade for the benefit of badly managed fish farms and sporting estates.
Although the mammals sustain many tourist businesses, they are seen as a risk to fish farms and wild fishery interests." .....more
February 13, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Whalers knock activist off jet-ski into sea
Japanese whalers have scrambled to recover from sustained attacks by conservationists in the Antarctic and have maintained their tail on the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin.
During the attacks, an activist was knocked off his jet-ski into the freezing Southern Ocean by a water cannon, and the propeller of the pursuing harpoon ship Yushin Maru No.2 was entangled by rope.
The clashes off Marie Byrd Land, about halfway between New Zealand and South America, came as the activists mounted a concerted attempt to rid themselves of their pursuers. .....more
February 13, 2012 -- Japan Times - Japan
Sea Shepherd stymies whaling trip by entangling rope in ship propeller
Activists of antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Sunday obstructed Japan's so-called research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean, hurling a rope at a whaling ship and twisting it around the ship's propeller, the Japanese Fisheries Agency said.
The activists also threw bottles containing butyric acid and hurled smoke candles at the Yushin Maru No. 2 during the incident which started at 7:20 a.m. and lasted for about two hours, the agency said. .....more
February 10, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Activists to steam on in marathon whaling pursuit
The marathon Antarctic whaling pursuit is set to run into next month, with Sea Shepherd activists replenishing fuel to keep up their chase of the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru.
Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said today the group's long-range vessel Bob Barker had used some of its own fuel to top up the Steve Irwin, which now had enough to stay at sea into next month.
The Bob Barker will leave the pursuit to take on more fuel from an undisclosed location, Mr Watson said. .....more
January 8, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Hellish week for activists in marathon whaling chase
Both sides in the Antarctic whaling conflict are today locked in a marathon pursuit across the Southern Ocean.
Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said the anti-whaling group's two ships had covered more than 5,000 nautical miles as some of the Japanese fleet's ships tailed them, while others were on the run.
"It's been a hellish week," Mr Watson said from the flagship Steve Irwin. "The weather has been horrendous." .....more
February 6, 2012 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Japan whaling fleet obstructed by activists
Hollywood action veteran Rutger Hauer has tried to shine on a light on the case of a Dutch environmentalist jailed in Japan since mid-December over an alleged minor assault.
Erwin Vermeulen, a volunteer with the Cove Guardians group of Sea Shepherd was arrested after he was said to have shoved an employee of the Dolphin Resort Hotel in the town of Taiji.
At the time, Mr Vermeulen was trying to take photographs of Risso's dolphins as they were being transferred between holding pens at the resort, Sea Shepherd reports. .....more
February 2, 2012 -- ABC News - Australia
Unlikely allies attempt to stop dolphin killing
A US Federal Agent and a local town councillor are using different approaches to try and end the killing of dolphins and whales in Taiji, made famous in the documentary The Cove. A note, this report contains distressing and confronting images. .....more
January 31, 2012 -- Yahoo News - India
What makes 28-year-old mariner Siddarth Chakravarty any different from others of his ilk? For this third generation native of Maharashtra, India, the difference was a simple choice. After a decade-long stint working with shipping companies, Siddharth decided to take his career down a different route. He joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an organization dedicated to preventing the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans. Here, he will be the first mate and ship’s manager for a crew of 40 people on board the Steve Irwin, charged with the mission of stopping a Japanese whaling fleet in the waters of the Southern Ocean. .....more
January 31, 2012 -- CNN - United States
Reward offered in deaths of sea lions
The environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible for shooting at least seven sea lions in Washington state waters.
Six protected California sea lions, an endangered Steller sea lion and a harbor seal have been found dead since December 1, nearly all of them in Puget Sound, officials said Tuesday.
Seven of the animals had bullet wounds, and circumstances regarding the eighth were a "bit ambiguous," said Brian Gorman, spokesman for the Seattle fisheries unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. .....more
January 22, 2012 -- ABC News - Australia
Activists caught in violent clash with whalers
Rotten butter, paint and tear gas have been exchanged in the latest violent confrontation between Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists in the Antarctic Ocean.
The Japanese Fisheries Agency says the whaling boat Yushin Maru 2 was on its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean yesterday when it was confronted by the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin.
It claims the anti-whaling activists threw more than 40 bottles of paint and rotten butter at the whalers.
The captain of the Steve Irwin, Paul Watson, says the whalers responded by throwing sticks and tear gas. .....more
January 18, 2012 -- MSNBC - United States
Anti-whaling activists clash with Japan harpoon ship
Japanese whalers and protesters clashed on Wednesday in the Southern Ocean, with activists saying three of their crew were injured by grappling hooks and a bamboo pole and Japan claiming the anti-whalers tried to cut ropes and tangle propellers.
The clash took place in the seas about 300 miles north of Mawson Peninsula off the coast of Antarctica, the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd group said on its Internet site.
"Our small boats were attempting to slow down the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2, which is aggressively tailing the Steve Irwin," said Captain Paul Watson. .....more
January 13, 2012 -- Australian News Network - Australia
Activists in high seas assault on Japanese whalers
Anti-whaling protesters from the Steve Irwin used rubber dinghies to get close enough to throw bottles of vile-smelling butyric acid at the Yushin Maru 2, the Herald Sun reported.
The harpoon ship retaliated by firing its water pump at them.
The activists also fixed hooks and wires to the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru 2, which is holding three Australians captive. .....more
January 13, 2012 -- Herald Sun - Australia
Minke Rescue iPhone game will raise money for Sea Shepherd anti-whaling fight
Game creators are hoping we'll have a whale of a time with a new offering from Adelaide's The Apptivist Studio.
Minke Rescue is an iPhone game that allows you to assume the character of a Minke Whale and dodge the dangers of the Antarctic as you save whale calves from the attention of whalers.
The game, released this month, is available for 99c from the App Store, with 30 per cent of proceeds going to Sea Shepherd, the organisation that has made waves internationally with its sometimes controversial attempts to stop Japanese whaling. .....more
January 11, 2012 -- Time Magazine - United States
A Peeved Australia Sends Boat to Fetch Anti-Whaling Activists
It probably wasn’t how certain members of the Australian government pictured spending their week. But since three Australian activists traveling with the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society illegally boarded a Japanese ship over the weekend, the government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard has spent the last few days trying to secure their freedom.
It worked, but Canberra isn’t pleased. On Tuesday, after days of trying to make contact with the Shonan Maru 2, Attorney General Nicola Roxon said Japan had agreed to release the three men, aged 47, 44, and 27. .....more
January 10, 2012 -- CNN - United States
Japan to hand over detained whaling activists to Australia
Japan said Tuesday that it would hand over to Australian authorities three Australian anti-whaling activists being held aboard a Japanese vessel, but that it would press on with its annual whale hunt in the seas near Antarctica.
The activists had illegally boarded the ship, a patrol vessel supporting Japan's whaling mission in Antarctic waters, to protest the hunting of the giant marine mammals in the area.
The three men will be released without charge after being questioned by Japan's Coast Guard, an official at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. The official declined to be identified as is customary in Japan. .....more
January 8, 2012 -- Reuters - United States
Activists detained on Japan whaling vessel: Sea Shepherd
Three Australian environmental activists were detained on board a Japanese whaling ship on Sunday after boarding in protest at Japan's annual whale cull in the Antarctic, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said.
The three activists from Forest Rescue, an Australian group specializing in direct action to prevent logging, boarded the ship early on Sunday with assistance from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd said in a statement.
U.S.-based Sea Shepherd is tailing Japan's whaling fleet as it heads towards the Southern Ocean to try to prevent the cull. .....more
January 6, 2012 -- ABC - Australia
Japan whaling fleet obstructed by activists
Anti-whaling activists say their campaign in the Southern Ocean has been successful so far, despite damage to a scouting boat.
The stricken vessel has been escorted to Fremantle.
The Sea Shepherd group says the Brigitte Bardot will be repaired but will not return to the Southern Ocean.
There are now calls for the Federal Government to do more to stop Japanese whalers. .....more
January 5, 2012 -- The West Australian - Australia
Japan whaling fleet obstructed by activists
Anti-whaling activists have interrupted the Japanese Antarctic hunt for the first time this season, Japan's fisheries agency said Thursday.
Two small boats from the US-based environmental group Sea Shepherd interfered with the movement of the harpoon ship Yushin Maru 3 for five and a half hours in the Antarctic Ocean on Wednesday, the agency said.
The boats, lowered from the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker, cut across the Yushin Maru's path trailing ropes and wires, an official at the governmental agency's international affairs division said.
"In response, the Yushin Maru 3 discharged water and gave out verbal warnings to the boats," he said, adding the whaler was not actively hunting at the time. .....more
January 5, 2012 -- Los Angeles Times - United States
Sea Shepherd activist arrested filming cove dolphins
The battle to stop the dolphin slaughter made infamous by last year’s Oscar-winning documentary, “The Cove,” has taken another turn.
On Dec. 16, Sea Shepherd volunteer Erwin Vermeulen, a member of the Cove Guardians project to monitor and document the capture of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, was arrested by Japanese police and charged with assault.
Vermeulen was arrested by Wakayama Prefecture police after attempting to film the transfer of a dolphin into holding pens at the Dolphin Resort Hotel, one destination for dolphins rounded up in Taiji. .....more
January 4, 2012 -- Forbes - United States
When we talk about drones these days, we tend to focus on how law enforcement uses them. The ACLU recently issued a report warning about the possibility of “routine air surveillance of Americans,” calling for restrictions on when police can deploy drones. Meanwhile, a robotics philosopher revealed that he was recently called in to brief the CIA’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, about the ethics of drones. In an Atlantic piece about the briefing, Patrick Lin mentions that South Korea has drones “that patrol playgrounds for pedophiles.” But government agencies are not the only ones finding innovative uses for drones. Activists are starting to get into the drone game. Tim Pool of Occupy Wall Street purchased a camera-equipped Parrot AR drone — that he’s named the Occucopter — to make filming confrontations with police easier. On more distant shores, or seas rather, an environmental activist group is using drones to hunt the Japanese whalers hunting whales. .....more
December 20, 2011 -- News Nine MSN - Australia
Govt threatens big tax bill: Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group says the government is threatening to charge them about $200,000 in taxes if they don't take their ships to another country before returning to Australia to refuel.
Speaking in the Southern Ocean, where he is looking for Japanese whalers, Sea Shepherd activist Paul Watson lashed out at the Australian government.
"Their latest thing is that we can't come back to Australia to refuel unless we go to another country first, which means we would have to go one week out of our way to get to New Zealand and come back," Mr Watson said. .....more
December 20, 2011 -- Environment News Service - United States
Sea Shepherd's Cove Guardian Crew Raided by Japanese Police
Twenty officers of the Wakayama Prefecture Police Sunday raided the Charmant Hotel where Sea Shepherd's Cove Guardians have been staying near Taiji. Armed with a warrant, which they claimed was for video taken by Cove Guardian Erwin Vermeulen, the police seized all of the Sea Shepherd volunteers' computers, phones, hard drives, photos, cameras and other items that the police deemed "suspicious," the nonprofit organization said in a statement.
None of the three Sea Shepherd volunteers at the hotel were arrested during the raid. The cell phones and cameras, emptied of all SD memory cards, were later returned to them. No reasons have been given for this raid, said Sea Shepherd, a marine mammal defense and advocacy organization based on the U.S. island of Friday Harbor, Washington. .....more
December 15, 2011 -- Sky News - Australia
Send ship for whaling peace - activists
The Sea Shepherd conservation group says governments concerned about dangerous confrontations between protesters and Japanese whalers should be sending a ship to keep the peace.
The governments of Australia, New Zealand, the US and the Netherlands have jointly said they are 'deeply concerned' about the potential for injury or loss of life during the summer whaling season.
The Southern Ocean showdown is predicted to be the most volatile yet, with whalers to be escorted by beefed-up security which Sea Shepherd says could involve armed boats. .....more
December 12, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Photo Gallery .....more
December 12, 2011 -- Time Magazine - United States
Blood Money: Tsunami Recovery Funds Go to Japan’s Whaling Industry
Whale hunting season kicked off in Japan last week as three ships set off with a security vessel on their annual pilgrimage to cull hundreds of minke and fin whales in Antarctic waters. And so begins the annual showdown between the whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the tenacious, publicity-savvy anti-whaling group that chases the Japanese fleet around the frigid waters of the sixth continent each winter. The yearly spectacle features scuba-clad activists zipping around in fast boats, lobbing stink bombs at the whaling ships and generally making life miserable for the crew who keep Japan’s 19th-century dream alive. The annual tussle even has its own reality show. .....more
December 10, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
The March earthquake has had the odd effect of boosting Japan's pro-whaling lobby, writes Andrew Darby.
Just down the road from the tranquillity of Tokyo's Imperial Palace, in the vast beehive of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, sit a studious group assembled in Special Conference Room 2.
The dark suits of government were matched by those of senior academics. Counterpointing the dozen serious men was one woman, her hair streaked a jaunty red. .....more
December 9, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Whalers file lawsuit against Sea Shepherd in US
Japanese whalers have filed a lawsuit in the United States in a bid to prevent "acts of violence" by Sea Shepherd activists during this year's hunt.
In a statement, Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd, which operates the whaling vessels, said they had filed the lawsuit to establish legal protection of their ships and crews.
"Sea Shepherd has made numerous attempts to foul ships' propellers with ropes, potentially placing the crews and vessels in extreme danger," the statement read. .....more
December 8, 2011 -- The Wall Street Journal - United States
Use of Government Recovery Funds Stokes Japan Whaling Row
As has become almost routine in recent years, Japan’s annual whale hunt that began this week has kicked off to swirling controversy.
But this year, onlookers are not only taking issue with the whaling expedition itself, but how extra government funding for the trip is being drawn from money intended to be used for reconstruction efforts from the March 11 disasters. The funds are from Japan’s own national budget, not charitable donations from overseas.
The Fisheries Agency said it is channeling an additional Y2.28 billion, about $30 million, to support this year’s whale hunting mission, a chunk of which is earmarked to bolster the fleet’s defense against aggressive confrontations with the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. .....more
December 8, 2011 -- Sky News - Australia
Sea Shepherd readies for 'battle'
Sea Shepherd is preparing to confront the whalers in the Southern Ocean, in what is expected to be one of its most intense campaigns yet. (Video, YouTube) .....more
December 7, 2011 -- CNN - United States
Waging 'wars' to save the whales
CNN's Max Foster talks to Paul Watson, captain of Sea Shepherd, about saving whales. (video) .....more
December 7, 2011 -- Sky News - Australia
Whaling funding a disgrace - activists
Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd has accused Japan of funding the killing of whales with money donated to victims of the Tsunami-earthquake.
Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for the country's annual hunt in Antarctica, with security measures beefed up amid international protests.
Sea Shepherd is preparing to confront the whalers in the Southern Ocean, in what is expected to be one of its most intense campaigns yet.
Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson told AAP it looked like the Japanese fleet had two security vessels with security and coast guard personnel aboard. .....more
December 6, 2011 -- Ecorazzi - United States
Sean Connery Among New Members of Sea Shepherd Board of Advisors
As the captains and crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society prepare for another voyage to Antarctica to defend the whales, the organization has also added a few familiar faces to their International Board of Advisors.
Sea Shepherd announced yesterday that Sean Connery, pro-surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore, and The Simpsons writer, producer, director and co-creator Sam Simon are now onboard as advisors. With the addition of another ’007?, Captain Paul Watson said, “We are fortunate to have Pierce Brosnan, Christian Bale, Richard Dean Anderson, Martin Sheen, William Shatner, and Marina Sirtis among Sea Shepherd’s devoted members and supporters. Today we gained a new Advisory Board member-Sean Connery. How can we lose? We have two James Bonds, Batman, MacGyver, a former ‘President of the United States,’ Captain Kirk, and Counselor Troi on our side.” .....more
December 2, 2011 -- The Mercury - Australia
AN Australian naval vessel must be sent to protect anti-whaling activists, Greens senator Bob Brown said yesterday.
Senator Brown met Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson in Hobart yesterday, ahead of the anti-whaling ship Bob Barker's departure for the Southern Ocean.
He said he had already asked Prime Minister Julia Gillard to send a naval vessel to monitor the conflict. .....more
November 25, 2011 -- World News Australia - Australia
Sea Shepherd prepares to tackle Japanese whalers
Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd is preparing for a three month voyage to the Southern Ocean and is expecting one of its most intense campaigns yet against Japanese whalers.
Three Sea Shepherd vessels – the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Brigitte Bardot – with a total of 88 crew members will head into Antarctic waters in December for what they call 'Operation Divine Wind' (or Kamikaze) with the objective of stopping Japanese whaling activities.
It's Sea Shepherd's eighth voyage to the Southern Ocean. The organisation claims that its harassment tactics last season forced the Japanese whaling fleet to cut short its hunting trip with a fraction of its usual catch. .....more
November 21, 2011 -- Stuff - New Zealand
REVIEW: Paul Watson is pretty much the definition of a polarising character. From the very earliest days of Greenpeace, to his expulsion from that organisation, and then to his founding of Sea Shepherd, Watson has remained a media savvy, pugnacious, charismatic, "radical among radicals".
Trish Dolman's documentary does a very smart job of following Watson's career, and the careers of his compatriots, as they learned more about whales and the men who slaughtered them, and then decided that direct action was needed to try and stop the whalers, dolphin killers, and illegal drift-netters of the world; at which Sea Shepherd and Watson have been spectacularly successful. .....more
November 21, 2011 -- Geelong Advertiser - Australia
Stars sign on for whale of a time
JOKER Dave Hughes showed his serious side when he threw his support behind the ocean's largest creatures at last night's Sea Shepherd fundraiser at The Pier.
Widely known as a lovable larrikin, the comedian said the protection and future of whales, dolphins and seals was a cause close to his heart.
"I've always appreciated and been a fan of what Sea Shepherd does and am so happy to be involved tonight," Hughes said.
"I'm a definite supporter and am always so intrigued when I listen to (Sea Shepherd) captain Paul Watson speak." .....more
November 10, 2011 -- Sunrise Channel 7 - Australia
Sea Shepherd prepares for this year's mission (video) .....more
November 9, 2011 -- The Age - Australia
Adorned in a new coat of war paint, the Bob Barker is in Sydney preparing to take on the Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean. (Photo slideshow) .....more
November 8, 2011 -- TVNZ - New Zealand
Sea Shepherd documentary (video)
Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson on the new documentary on his life as an environmental activist. (Click here to watch)
November 8, 2011 -- The Metro - United Kingdom
Environmental activists are set to take on whale hunters in Antacrtica
Trying to save the world can be a confrontational business. Paul Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, believes Greenpeace, where he started out as an activist in the 1970s, isn’t doing enough to protect whales in Antarctica.
The 60-year-old Canadian says the more political tactics of Greenpeace don’t get results.
‘This behind the scenes crap is not something that Greenpeace was involved in. I think they’re just too cowardly to go back to be perfectly blunt about it,’ he says. .....more
November 3, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
'It takes a pirate to catch a pirate'
With bunk beds in cramped rooms, stickers with slogans such as "Woodchipping Sucks" plastering the walls and the smell of samosas filling the air, this could easily be a backpacker's hostel.
But life aboard the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's anti-whaling ship Bob Barker is no holiday.
The Bob Barker, named after an American game show host who donated money to buy the ship, is docked in Sydney's White Bay and will soon make the voyage into the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean for a three-month campaign. .....more
November 3, 2011 -- International Business Times - Australia
18,000 Aussies Sign Online Petition Against Shark Slay
An online petition sponsored by SupportOurSharks.com is currently gathering signatures to protest the decision of Western Australian government to allow the hunting of a shark that killed its the third victim in the state. As of Nov. 2, the petition has gathered close to 18,000 signatures.
George "Thomas" Wainwright, 32, was the third fatal shark attack victim in two months. He was killed off Rottnest Island by the west coast on October 22. The first victim, a bodyboarder, was killed in September near Dunsborough. The second victim, a champion swimmer, was believed to have been killed on October 10 in Perth's Cottesloe Beach. .....more
October 25, 2011 -- Google News - United States
Brigitte Bardot tells Japan to stop whaling
Former screen siren Brigitte Bardot has joined forces with militant environmentalists to call on Japan to halt its "campaign of death" in the annual Antarctic whale hunt.
In a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the sixties sex kitten said it was "indecent" for the Japanese government to be spending an additional $27 million on beefed-up security for this year's hunt.
"Whales are endangered and each animal killed is a crime against biodiversity," said the French actress, who heads the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. .....more
October 18, 2011 -- The Guardian - United Kingdom
'Whale war' kicks off as Japan sends strengthened fleet to Antarctica
As the Steve Irwin approached the equator last week, word that Japan would be sending a strengthened whaling fleet to Antarctica next month reached the bridge of the old Aberdeen-built customs vessel. The crew of activists on board cheered, as their veteran leader, Captain Paul Watson, resigned himself to his eighth "whale war" among the icebergs and 100mph winds of the Southern ocean.
Watson, on what is nearly his 350th voyage in nearly 40 years defending whales and other marine wildlife at the helm of Sea ShepherdConservation Society, is sending three ships to intercept, chase and harass the Japanese. He promises "aggressive non-violence", while the Japanese, still smarting from last year's humiliation when their fleet took only a fifth of its planned whale catch, say they will heighten security and take an armed government fisheries patrol vessel. .....more
August 19, 2011 -- Huffpost Tech - United Kingdom
November 5 2009. The Ady Gil (formerly known as Earthrace), the new stealth high-tech anti-whaling powerboat brought by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is seen in Auckland Harbour with its new jetski ahead of its imminent deployment for Perth and then the Southern Ocean in Auckland, New Zealand. The 24-metre trimaran has paint which deflects radar waves, so can approach Japanese whaling vessels almost unseen. .....more
August 11, 2011 -- Canada.com - Canada
Rebel with a cause: Eco-Pirate probes origins of Paul Watson's zeal
Paul Watson never figured he'd live past the age of 32, which explains - in large part - why he's not afraid to die for his cause.
Captain Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, one of the few charitable operations with an entirely activist agenda dedicated to saving whales, marine mammals and the entire oceanic system.
Ask Watson the obvious question of "why?'' and his answer is very matter-of-fact: "The oceans are essential for all life on Earth. Without healthy oceans, we die.'' .....more
July 28, 2011 -- The Age - Australia
The Japanese Government is formally weighing up its whaling fleet's Antarctic future - including for the first time an option to not return south.
A Fisheries Agency of Japan review committee has taken evidence on all options, with most wanting to continue despite conservationist harassment, the well-informed newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said.
It said a minority opinion of the committee acknowledged that, after 25 years, Japan had failed to gain international support for the research, and proposed that it be scaled down or halted. .....more
July 21, 2011 -- Straight.com - Canada
Eco-Pirate's Paul Watson is a renegade on the high seas
Paul Watson has a thick skin, maybe as thick as the hide of a whale, one of the creatures he has spent the better part of three-and-a-half decades protecting.
In any given week, the controversial environmental “bad boy” and “terrorist” probably attracts more insults, accusations, and barbs than Moby Dick absorbed harpoons in its climactic showdown with Captain Ahab. And like the fictional white whale, Watson generally wreaks havoc and survives to go about his business on the world’s oceans until the next Ahab comes along to try and sink him again.
But unlike in the iconic American novel by Herman Melville, the megalomaniac in this scenario isn’t the obsessed seafarer. .....more
June 18, 2011 -- USA Today - USA
Sea Shepherds take on illegal tuna fishing
On Monday Watson ordered the Steve Irwin to head south, into Libyan waters and make its way westward about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of the coast. He hoped to find boats whose names were not on the ICCAT list at all, making them clearly illegal. Those he would confront, sending in divers to cut the nets and free the tuna.
"I call that aggressive non-violence," he said Sunday. "If property is used to break the law, we can destroy it."
In any event, Wednesday was the final day of the season, and anyone fishing for bluefin tuna after that is illegal, ICCAT list or no. And Sea Shepherd will go after them. .....more
June 13, 2011 -- ABC News/Money - USA
Eco-Group's Founder Uses 'Aggressive Nonviolence'
From the crow's nest, some 60 feet (18 meters) above the waves, the horizon forms a perfect circle, and the visible world a perfect disc — empty in all directions but for the sea.
Down below, the ship's captain is frustrated by that emptiness. He believes quite strongly that boats are fishing for bluefin tuna illegally, hastening what he fears is the species' demise. He wants to find those fishermen and stop them. But there are few blips on the ship's radar and few specks on the horizon save for the occasional NATO warship. .....more
June 10, 2011 -- Forbes - USA
Conversation With An Eco-Pirate: Japan Crisis Will Nuke Whaling
Will Japan’s nuclear crisis sink that nation’s controversial whaling industry?
Captain Paul Watson, the self-proclaimed eco-pirate who helms the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, thinks the financial fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster will keep Japan’s whaling ships in port when the Southern Ocean whaling season begins in December.
“With the Japanese government cutting old-age pensions because of all the disasters, I just can’t see them justifying further subsidies for whaling,” says Watson. “However, there is the pride factor and if they come we’ll be ready for them.” .....more
June 10, 2011 -- ABC News/Money - USA
Environmentalists, Tuna Fishers Battle at Sea
Tuna fishermen battled environmentalists on the Mediterranean, hurling heavy links of chain at them as the environmentalists attempted to disrupt illegal tuna fishing under the no-fly zone north of Libya on Saturday.
The fishermen also attempted to lay a rope in front of the activists' boat, the Steve Irwin — owned by the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society — hoping to disable it. Environmentalists responded with fire hoses and stink bombs. .....more
June 4, 2011 -- New York Times - USA
‘Whale Wars’ Leader: ‘Arrest Me or Shut Up’
Amid scrambling to presentations at the World Science Festival and a United Nations screening of a remarkable new film, the “Journey of the Universe,” I slipped in 45 minutes to interview Paul Watson. He’s the founder of the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and central character in the popular “Whale Wars” show on Animal Planet, which began its fourth season on Friday night and may have a new focus next year. Here’s part one of the interview... .....more
May 18, 2011 -- MSNBC - USA
Tuna defenders to battle poachers — off Libya
Wearing bulletproof vests and backed by a helicopter, activists well known for their anti-whaling campaigns plan to sail into Libyan waters to stop poachers from netting highly endangered bluefin tuna.
Sea Shepherd will send two boats into the war zone — the 190-foot Steve Irwin, named after the Australian conservationist, and the 115-foot Gojira — said Paul Watson, founder of the group based in Friday Harbor, Wash.
Watson said he'll captain the larger boat, which has a helicopter and was recently repainted in blue/gray/black camouflage colors. The smaller, faster boat will act as a scout, looking for targets. .....more
Mar 19, 2011 -- The Huffington Post - USA
Sea Shepherd: Mission Accomplished in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
Last week I had the opportunity to spend a week aboard The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessels, The Steve Irwin and The Bob Barker upon their return to port in Hobart, Tasmania after successfully shutting down Japanese whaling operations in the southern ocean whale sanctuary--a victory that has been 7 years in the making.
Media and film crews were on hand to welcome home the captains and crew along with family, friends and supporters who showed up with fresh fruit and produce as gestures of gratitude for the ocean defenders, some who spent 94 days at sea without fresh provisions. Australian Green party member and long time Sea Shepherd advocate, Bob Brown held a press conference with Captain Paul Watson to express his support and appreciation for this year's monumental victory for the whales. .....more
Mar 03, 2011 -- The Huffington Post - USA
The 11th Hour Strikes: Saving the Blue Fin Tuna From Extinction
The fate of one of the ocean's largest fish and most important apex predators will be on the table at an inter-sessional meeting of The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to take place February 21-25th in Barcelona, Spain. According to a recent report from the Associated French Press, several countries have failed to deliver their plans for recovery of tuna stocks to the ICCAT, which may provide some critical and overdue relief for the blue fin tuna. European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki recently issued a letter to Spain, Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Greece, warning that the European fleet may not be allowed to catch its 2011 quota if the EU does not provide the recovery plans within the allotted time frame. .....more
Feb 16, 2011 -- CNN - USA
Japan suspends annual whale hunt
Japan has suspended its annual Antarctic whale hunt because an anti-whaling group is tailing its ship, a government official said Wednesday.
Hirosh Kawamura, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the hunt has been "temporarily suspended" since February 10 due to the actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
"We have experienced the dangerous attacks from them, it might take the life of crews," he said. "Considering the safety as the first priority, we decided to halt the whaling temporarily." .....more
Feb 16, 2011 -- BBC - United Kingdom
Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters
Japan has suspended its annual Antarctic whale hunt following protests from a campaign group.
Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a US-based environmental group, have been chasing the Japanese fleet's mother ship.
An official at the country's fisheries agency said whaling had been halted "for now" because of safety concerns.
Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 but Japan uses a regulation permitting hunting for scientific research. ....more
Feb 16, 2011 -- The Japan Times - Japan
Activists win; whale hunt halts in Antarctic
The Japanese whaling fleet has suspended its Antarctic Ocean hunt because of obstruction by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessels, a Fisheries Agency official said Wednesday.
Jiji Press reported government officials are considering having the fleet return home earlier than regular years amid the moves by the marine animal rights group.
"The Nisshin Maru (whaling fleet mother ship) has been chased by Sea Shepherd vessels since Feb. 10 and thus the fleet suspended whaling since then," said Tatsuya Nakaoku of the Whaling Section of the Fisheries Agency's Far Seas Fisheries Division. "We are considering several options (to deal with the current situation), but nothing has been decided." ....more
Feb 16, 2011 -- The Canadian Press - Canada
Japan temporarily suspends Antarctic whaling hunt after activists' harassment
Japan has temporarily suspended its annual Antarctic whaling after repeated harassment by a conservationist group, a government official said Wednesday.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships have been chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for weeks in the icy seas off Antarctica, trying to block Japan's annual whale hunt, planned for up to 945 whales.
Japan has halted the hunt since Feb. 10 after persistent "violent" disruptions by the anti-whaling protesters, said fisheries agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku.
So far, the attacks have not caused any injuries or major damage to the vessels, he said, but the protesters are throwing rancid butter in bottles and once the protesters got a rope entangled in the propeller on a harpoon vessel, causing it to slow down. . . more
Feb 15, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Japan temporarily suspends Antarctic whaling hunt after activists' harassment
TOKYO — Japan has temporarily suspended its annual Antarctic whaling after repeated harassment by a conservationist group, a government official said Wednesday. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships have been chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for weeks in the icy seas off Antarctica, trying to block Japan's annual whale hunt, planned for up to 945 whales. Japan has halted the hunt since Feb. 10 after persistent "violent" disruptions by the anti-whaling protesters, said fisheries agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku. ....more
Jan 22, 2011 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Japan's whaling fleet on the run
IN THE shadows of intent, somewhere between harmless fireworks and deadly force, lies the whaling conflict in the Antarctic.
At one end of this spectrum are the stink bombs thrown against water jets. At the other is the near fatal collision involving the Ady Gil.
Among all this piratical colour and movement, decisive moments of a decades-long struggle can pass little noticed. ....more
Jan 15, 2011 -- Stuff - New Zealand
Southern Whaling Season Hard Work
Japanese whalers face the threat of their worst Antarctic season as conservation activists tighten their hold on the whaling fleet.
A fuel resupply that may be vital to keeping the fleet in the Southern Ocean was being thwarted by the Sea Shepherd activists, who have preoccupied the fleet.
More than a fortnight into a shortened season, few, if any, whales are believed to have been killed. For the activists, the tantalising prospect is rising that for the first time in decades of protest, whaling will be effectively shut down.
''We're doing pretty good at it,'' Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said yesterday, ''even though we're not being as proactive as in other seasons.'' ....more
Jan 14, 2011 -- The Age - Australia
Sea Shepherd in Control as Whalers Face Battle to Refuel
Japanese whalers face the threat of their worst Antarctic season as conservation activists tighten their hold on the whaling fleet.
A fuel resupply that may be vital to keeping the fleet in the Southern Ocean was being thwarted by the Sea Shepherd activists, who have preoccupied the fleet.
More than a fortnight into a shortened season, few, if any, whales are believed to have been killed. For the activists, the tantalising prospect is rising that for the first time in decades of protest, whaling will be effectively shut down. ....more
Jan 13, 2011 -- TVNZ - New Zealand
Sea Shepherd Plans to Intercept Supply Ship
The Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group says it has intercepted a Japanese whaling supply ship in the Southern Ocean and plans to stop it delivering its cargo to the fleet's factory ship and harpoon vessels.
The Sea Shepherd ship, Gojira said it was tailing the tanker, the Panamanian registered Sun Laurel carrying fuel and other supplies.
When the Gojira captain Canadian Lockhart MacLean found the Sun Laurel he immediately alerted other Sea Shepherd ships in the area which changed course to intercept the tanker. ....more
Jan 13, 2011 -- The Huffington Post - USA
Anti-whaling Group Launches Innovative iPhone App
Just when you thought that the fight to save whales couldn't get any more mainstream, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Societyannounced the successful launch of their new iPhone and iPad App earlier this week.
Founded in 1977, the high profile and often controversial non profit marine conservation organization remains steadfast in its direct action mission to protect endangered marine wildlife and habitats across the planet. Now you can join 'Neptune's Navy' as they continue to confront illegal poachers on the high seas in their relentless efforts to end illegal whaling and other critical issues facing the world's oceans today.....more
Jan 11, 2011 -- Herald Sun - Australia
Gillard Calls for Calm on Whaling
Escalating clashes between Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists in Antarctic waters have sparked a stern call for calm from Julia Gillard.
Amid claims conservationists hurled illegal "flash bang" grenades in the most recent skirmish, the Prime Minister warned both sides to behave more responsibly.
"This is a remote, inhospitable, dangerous place," Ms Gillard said.
"Everybody has to act responsibly. Any sense that somehow you can act irresponsibly and somehow someone miraculously turns up to save you -- that is not the way the world works." ....more
Jan 10, 2011 -- ABC News - Australia
Anti-whaling Activists Reject Grenade Claims
Whale conservation group Sea Shepherd has rejected claims it threw illegal stun grenades onboard a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean earlier this month.
The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, which organises Japan's so-called scientific whaling program, has released footage showing activists onboard boats belonging to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society throwing objects onto the Yushin Maru 2
The two sides have already clashed twice this year during the annual Antarctic hunt, and the Japanese institute says at least two stun grenades and one smoke bomb were thrown in the most recent incident, with one of the grenades landing on protective nets on its harpoon ship. ....more
Jan 09, 2011 -- The Mercury - Australia
Anti-whaling campaigners have clashed with the Japanese fleet using a state-of-the art interceptor vessel as they bid to disrupt the annual hunting campaign.
Activists on board the £2.57million Gojira trimaran catapulted glass bottles at the Yushin Maru-2 and threw ropes aimed at its propeller in the second clash already this year.
Two ships belonging to campaign group Sea Shepherd have been pursuing Japanese whaling factory vessel the Nisshin Maru for the last six days after discovering the fleet on December 31. ....more
Jan 06, 2011 -- Wall Street Journal - USA
Godzilla Returns to Fight Japanese Whalers
It’s the return of Godzilla, but not exactly how scriptwriters might have imagined it.
A speedboat belonging to the environmental group Sea Shepherd named after the iconic monster — “Gojira”, in the local language – made waves for Japanese whalers on the high seas Wednesday in what was the second altercation between the seafarers this year, according to Japan’s Fisheries Agency, and one that prompted Japan to contact Australian embassy officials in Tokyo asking Sydney to intervene....more
Jan 06, 2011 -- The Guardian - United Kingdom
Wikileaks: Secret Whale Deal Plotted by US and Japan
Japan and the US proposed to investigate and act against international anti-whaling activists from the Sea ShepherdConservation Society as part of a political deal to reduce whaling in Antarctic waters.
Four confidential cables from the US embassy in Tokyo and the state department in Washington, released by WikiLeaks, show US and Japanese diplomats secretly negotiating a compromise agreement ahead of a key meeting last year of the International Whaling Commission, the body that regulates international whaling. ....more
Jan 06, 2011 -- Daily Mail - United Kingdom
Anti-whaling campaigners have clashed with the Japanese fleet using a state-of-the art interceptor vessel as they bid to disrupt the annual hunting campaign.
Activists on board the £2.57million Gojira trimaran catapulted glass bottles at the Yushin Maru-2 and threw ropes aimed at its propeller in the second clash already this year.
Two ships belonging to campaign group Sea Shepherd have been pursuing Japanese whaling factory vessel the Nisshin Maru for the last six days after discovering the fleet on December 31. ....more
Jan 04, 2011 -- The Japan Times - Japan
Sea Shepherd Hurt Hunt, Japan Urged Audit: Cables
Japan admitted to the United States that actions by the activist group Sea Shepherd had curtailed its annual whale hunt but opposed Washington's efforts to have it politically engage fellow whaling nation Iceland to reduce its catch, WikiLeaks cables revealed Monday.
Negotiations between Japan and the U.S. over Sea Shepherd and the future of the International Whaling Commission in November 2009 and last January were the subjects of the first U.S. diplomatic cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo released by WikiLeaks. ....more
Jan 04, 2011 -- The West Australian - Australia
Anti-whaling activists continued their pursuit of the Japanese fleet yesterday, with both sides showing beefed-up capabilities.
Sea Shepherd has three longdistance ships and the activists hurled bottles of a foul chemical on to the harpoon post of the whale chaser Yushin Maru No 3.
The Japanese chaser ships are heavily netted against projectiles or boarding. ....more
Jan 03, 2011 -- L.A. Times - USA
Wikileaks Releases Documents About Anti-whaling Group Sea Shepherd
Japanese and American officials discussed taking action to weaken a prominent anti-whaling group, with Tokyo insisting that Sea Shepherd's confrontations on the high seas actually hurt efforts to reduce whaling, U.S. diplomatic cables show.
The U.S. representative to the International Whaling Commission, Monica Medina, discussed revoking the U.S.-based conservation group's tax-exempt status during a meeting with senior officials from the Fisheries Agency of Japan in November 2009, according to the documents released by WikiLeaks on Monday. ...more
Jan 01, 2011 -- Fox News - USA
Japanese Whalers, Activists Clash off Antarctica
Japanese whalers shot water cannons at anti-whaling activists on Saturday, the conservationist group's founder claimed, hours after the activists tracked down the hunting fleet in the remote and icy seas off Antarctica.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is chasing the fleet in the hopes of interrupting Japan's annual whale hunt, which kills up to 1,000 whales a year. The two sides have clashed violently in the past, including last year, when a Sea Shepherd boat was sunk after its bow was sheared off in a collision with a whaling ship. ....more
