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 2009 and earlier, please visit our SSCS in the News Archive page.
Recent Coverage
 January 6, 2011 -- 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, 2011 -- 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
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
Operation Divine Wind
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
New depths for whaling war
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
Navy protection plea
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
Eco Pirate on a mission
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
Whale Wars
Sea Shepherd prepares for this year's mission (video) .....more
November 9, 2011 -- The Age - Australia
Bob Barker in Sydney
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)
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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 Shepherd Conservation 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
A History of Stealth (PHOTOS)
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
Japan weighs whalers' future
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 Society announced 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
Activists’ Ballooning Success
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 Shepherd Conservation 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
Straight into battle: High-tech anti-whaling vessel clashes with Japanese fleet in freezing
Southern Ocean
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
Rivals Continue Whaling Chase
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
Dec 26, 2010 -- The Huffington Post - USA
'Tis the Season for Sea Shepherd to Defend Whales in Antarctica
Earlier last week I met up with Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew at the bottom of New Zealand's South Island as their flagship vessel, The Steve Irwin, embarked on its annual mission to the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary to defend the great leviathans of the deep against the blatantly illegal annual hunting spree by the Japanese government. Perhaps there is no translation in the Japanese language or maybe they just missed the memo, but a "sanctuary" as defined by Noah Webster is understood by the rest of the world as: (1) a place of refuge and protection (2) a refuge for wildlife where predators are controlled and hunting is illegal. ... .more
Dec 2, 2010 -- Japan Today - Japan
Sea Shepherd Ships head for Atlantic to take on Whalers
Two vessels of the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society left Australia on Thursday to protest and disrupt Japanese whaling activities in Antarctic waters, ahead of the start of the new hunting season.
Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel Steve Irwin, accompanied by the Bob Barker, left from a wharf in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. They are expected to arrive in the Antarctic Ocean in around three weeks.
The two vessels will joined in coming days by the Gojira, a 35-meter vessel, high-speed interceptor vessel that replaces the Ady Gill, a trimaran that was damaged beyond repair last January in a collision with a vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet. ....more
Nov 23, 2010 -- Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Avatar pilot turns sights in whalers
Hollywood actor Michelle Rodriguez says she plans to take direct action against Antarctic whaling because the law is not working.
Rodriguez, star of the movie Avatar and the TV series Lost has tested her sea legs with Sea Shepherd activists in preparation for a campaigning spot in the summer of 2011-12.
Speaking after reaching Hobart aboard the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin, she said there was no single way to bring an end to whaling. ....more
November 9, 2011 -- The Age - Australia
Bob Barker in Sydney
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
Nov 19, 2010 -- Nine MSN - Australia
Sea Shepherd season (video)
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Every summer the sea shepherd takes to the freezing southern ocean to save the world's whales. Leading the charge is Captain Paul Watson who joined TODAY to chat about his plight. (Click here to watch)
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Nov 16, 2010 -- News - Australia
Avatar Michelle Rodriguez star joins Sea Shepherd
Hollywood actress Michelle Rodriguez, star of blockbuster Avatar, is in Fremantle throwing her support behind anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd.
Rodriguez said she will be on board Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel MY Steve Irwin when it sets sail at 4pm today for Hobart where crew plan to replenish supplies before heading to the Southern Ocean in December. ... .more
Sept 09, 2010 -- The Sun - United Kingdom
First pics of Dolphin Hunt
These are the first pictures of Japan's shameful dolphin hunt that sees more than 20,000 of the beautiful mammals slaughtered every year.
Our undercover pictures show the first victims of the annual ritual — held in tiny pens after being herded into them by bloodthirsty fishermen.
Most of these will be sold to dolphin parks around the world but thousands more are killed in hidden coves for their meat.
Local officials lock down the area to stop the world witnessing the cull which starts every September.. .more
August 11, 2010 -- The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Nostalgia carries risk for these whale hunters
Thin, smart and bespectacled, Peter Hammarstedt could easily pass scrutiny in the Faroe Islands last month for what he said he was: a visiting Swedish film student.
Hammarstedt, 28, took in the sights of these wild North Atlantic islands, plugged into the local grapevine, and with his video camera, bided his time.
For, around Hobart, Hammarstedt is better known as a long- serving Sea Shepherd crewman, currently the mate on the group’s ship, Bob Barker, which is idle in the Derwent for the southern winter.
And Hammarstedt was in the Faroes to document Europe’s sole surviving cetacean drive hunt, of pilot whales.. .more
July 30, 2010 -- The Sun - United Kingdom
Brutal slaughter of pilot whales
The disembowelled bodies of brutally slaughtered whales line a dockside just 230 miles from Britain - as families with children wander among them.
More than 200 protected pilot whales were hacked to death with knives and sharpened hooks by fishermen who trapped them in coves on the Faeroe Islands.
Disturbing images show deep gouges where whalers hacked at the animals to sever their spinal cords. Others show the bodies of unborn calves torn from their mothers' wombs.
Crowds of islanders, including youngsters, gathered to watch the slaughter, known as "the grind".. . . more
 June 6, 2010 -- France24 - France
Green group to launch Mediterranean tuna 'blue rage'
Conservation Society Sea Shepherd will on Monday launch a "Blue Rage" campaign against the poaching of threatened bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, the director of its French branch told AFP.
The group's boat Steve Irwin arrived on Saturday in Malta, near where Greenpeace activists clashed on Friday with French commercial tuna fishing vessels, director Lamya Essemlali told AFP.
She and the group's founder, Paul Watson, were to join the vessel and its crew of about 40 people on Monday to launch the campaign which would last until mid-July, she said.
"We want to stop the poachers," Essemlali said, adding that Sea Shepherd's boat would consider sailing into Libyan waters, where many poachers operate, to protect the bluefin. . . more
June 4, 2010 -- Los Angeles Times - USA
'Whale Wars' Captain Paul Watson swims with the pod
With his bushy white beard, stout figure and cargo pants, Captain Paul Watson looks more like a hard-edged seaman than the star of one of television's more popular reality shows. But at a busy restaurant in downtown Los Angeles this spring, the 59-year-old at the center of "Whale Wars" was being confronted by his new identity as a celebrity.
After being seated, Watson was promptly greeted by a waiter, who presented him with a tray full of vegan hors d'oeuvres. "Compliments of the chef," the waiter said. "He's a big fan of your show."
Indeed, the controversial Canadian activist's profile has risen dramatically because of the success of his Animal Planet show, which documents his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's travails in the waters off Antarctica as it battles Japanese whaling fleets. Since the show's inception in fall 2008, the program has become the channel's second-highest-rated program and last season averaged over 1 million viewers an episode, according to the channel. . . more
April 13, 2010 -- The First Post - United Kingdom
Victory for Sea Shepherd as whale catch halved
The Japanese whaling fleet has returned from the Antarctic with its smallest catch for years, blaming "violent interference" from the militant Sea Shepherd conservation group.
The whalers' final total of 506 minke whales and one fin whale was well short of its 935 target – and the lowest on record after the 2006-07 season when the fleet had to return home early with just 505 whales after a fire broke out on a Japanese ship.
Shigetoshi Nishiwaki of the Institute of Cetacean Research, the body that conducted the Antarctic whaling expedition, told reporters: "Anger is the word."
He added that Sea Shepherd activists "say they protect the sea but they don't care about leaking oil or leaving pieces of a broken ship behind". He was referring to an incident in January when Sea Shepherd’s powerboat the Ady Gil was sliced in two by a Japanese whaling ship. . . more
March 14, 2010 -- The Sydney Morning Herald - Australia
Sea warrior
 Paul Watson tells Alex McClintock why he won't give up fighting for the whales.
'I've never feared for my life. I don't know why. Maybe it's a feeling of denial or maybe being able to appreciate the danger," captain Paul Watson says, his voice lighting up.
You get the distinct impression that it's the latter. The president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has certainly faced his fair share of perils, and recounts tales of derring-do with glee.
Watson excitedly describes how 30 drunken sealers kicked in his hotel room door while he was protesting the Canadian seal hunt in 1995.
"They were all standing there ready to attack me and all I could think of was: 'I'm not going to give in to these guys.' One of them came at me and punched me in the side of the head, so I took him down with a stun gun. Another came in from the other side and I took him out. That confused them so much that the police were able to get in and get them off me." . . . more
February 24, 2010 -- Time Online - USA
Australia to Japan: Stop Whaling, or Else
On Dec. 7, 2009, the Steve Irwin, a ship belonging to the radical anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society departed from the port of Fremantle, in Western Australia, bound for Antarctica. It was farewelled by members of the celebrated animal conservationist's family, who supported the Sea Shepherd's Mission to obstruct the Japanese whalers in Antarctic Waters.
The Steve Irwin was later joined by two more vessels from the Sea Shepherd's fleet: The high-tech stealth boat Ady Gil, which sunk in the Southern Sea following a collision with whaling boat on Jan. 6., and the Bob Barker, a ship that survived a collision on Feb. 6 and is currently exchanging rancid-butter bombs with water canon fire from the whalers. On Feb. 15, New Zealander Pete Bethune, the former captain of the Ady Gil crew, boarded Japan's Shonan Maru 2 in the middle of the night, presented the skipper with a $3 million invoice for sinking the Ady Gil, and attempted a citizen's arrest. Bethune was detained by the crew of the Japanese vessel, and according to Paul Watson the President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society the ship has turned back to Japan. Bethune could be facing trespass charges in Tokyo. "It's one more whaling ship out of the water," said Watson, who is onboard the Steve Irwin. "Our presence has cost them $70 to $80 million dollars.". . . more
 February 9, 2010 -- The Japan Times Online - Japan
Watson to whalers: We will never surrender
Despite speaking on a bad line from somewhere off Antarctica, the message from Paul Watson was loud and clear:"We will never retreat or surrender the southern oceans till we drive the Japanese whaling fleet out of here. We are not going to back down on this, and we are getting stronger every year. Every year we come down with more support." For the fifth year running now, Watson, the charismatic 60-year-old founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is pursuing Japan's whaling fleet across the frigid Southern Ocean with his ragtag "Neptune's Navy" of supporters. . . more
January 16, 2010 -- The Age - Australia
Battle for whales too weak, poll finds
More than eight in 10 Australians say the Federal Government is not doing enough to prevent Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, a poll has found.
The strong feeling stretches across all age groups, with only 9 per cent saying the Government is doing enough.
The finding comes as a Japanese political and business consultant warned of the danger of the dispute to relations between the two and a small group of protesters demonstrated outside the Japanese embassy yesterday.
The Australian Government is trying to reach a diplomatic solution while keeping the threat of legal action as an option.
In a UMR national poll of 1000 people between January 7 and 11, 94 per cent opposed Japanese whaling.
Three-quarters said they were prepared to refuse to buy Japanese products or services to pressure Japan to stop whaling. . . . more
January 15, 2010 -- Wired - USA
Whaling Protesters Pioneer Non-lethal Warfare
An altruistic millionaire spends a fortune on high-tech vehicles and an arsenal of non-lethal weaponry — including sonic blasters and photonic disruptors — for a vigilante battle against similarly-armed villains. Nope, it's not a comic book plot. This is real life, according to a story in the New Yorker about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's recent tussle with some Japanese whalers. And it raises interesting questions about the future of non-lethal devices as tools of protest.
In an article called "Streetfight on the High Seas," the magazine interviews Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson. He describes how the group went into action in a converted whaling ship and a 78-foot wave-piercing trimaran, capable of 45 knots. This boat is often described as looking like something out of a Batman movie; a million dollars of the purchase price was supplied by Hollywood lighting magnate Ady Gil, and the boat was named after him.
The fight started when a Japanese ship, the Shonan Maru 2, attacked the Shepherd vessel MV Steve Irwin with a water cannon and a Long Range Acoustic Device 'sonic blaster.' The Sea Shepherd folks have their own LRAD; they haven't used yet. (This leads to the question of what happens when two LRAD-armed opponents get into a standoff – a battle of wills, determined by who has the best hearing protection.). . . more
January 6, 2010 -- The New York Times - USA
Anti-Whaling Vessel Damaged in a Collision at Sea
An anti-whaling group's high-speed boat and a Japanese whaler reported colliding at sea on Wednesday, with each blaming the other.
Video taken from the deck of the Japanese ship, Shonan Maru 2, showed the collision with the Ady Gil, a sleek black trimaran belonging to a group that aggressively confronts the Japanese whaling fleet each year as it plies the waters south of Australia and New Zealand.
The video shows a frothy wake coming from the stern of the Ady Gil, although it is unclear whether the trimaran was moving. The Shonan Maru 2 was directing a water cannon at the Ady Gil before and during the collision, which is clearly seen on the video, and the bow of the Ady Gil was sheared off. . . more
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