Expressionism at Sea

Howie Cooke
Quartermaster, Steve Irwin

Apart from being a Quartermaster and sometimes-deckie on the Steve Irwin, I have also, in being a painter, fallen into the role of ship’s artist doing sign writing jobs as needed (Chad too), decorating the ship’s logbook and producing a daily cartoon for the crew’s notice board.

Cartooning is a fun way of depicting ship life and the cruel stupidity of whaling through the eyes of the crew, animals, icebergs, and the ship’s basil plant, Basileco.

It is an honor to be part of the Sea Shepherd fleet and our great international crew of life-loving, passionately dedicated people bonded by the same goal of blocking the whale killers and driving them out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

We have been thoroughly awed by the wonders and the wildlife of Antarctica and we are more resolved than ever to see whaling crushed forever and this great wilderness preserved into the future.

Equally I am honored to represent Surfers for Cetaceans and the global surfing community’s support for Captain Paul Watson’s vision of direct protection, and freedom for the whales and their oceanic world.

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