Paul Watson ‘Action-Thriller’ Biopic Film Gets Green Light

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by Michael dEstries November 12, 2010
Categories: Animals, Film/TV
Tags: .

Paul Watson is about to make the jump from the television to the big screen.

Variety is reporting that Inferno Entertainment has thrown into production an “action thriller” titled “Whale Warrior” about the early days of Watson with Greenpeace and the creation of Sea Shepherd.

“During his career, Paul has been called both a hero and a terrorist, refusing to be defined by anything but his mission to conserve and protect marine life. We are thrilled to bring this complex and thought-provoking character to the big screen,” Inferno partner Bill Johnson said.

Keith Ross Leckie (“To Walk With Lions”) and Julie Allan (“The Prince of Cool”) are penning the script.

That something like this is coming to the big screen isn’t that surprising. Back in 2008, immediately after Heath Ledger passed away, it was revealed that he had been in discussions to play the role of Captain Watson in movie directed by Stuart Townsend.

“The movie Mighty Hearts could have had Ledger as Capt. Watson ramming driftnet fishing trawlers, smashing illegal whaling boats and sailing boldly into Soviet waters in his bid to stop whalers,” The West reported. “Kroonenburg said Ledger would have been perfect for the lead role in the film, now in pre-production, as he was a gifted actor who had a genuine interest in whales and had demonstrated a capacity to “age beautifully” in Brokeback Mountain.”

As the script is only just being written, expect this one to be in development for a couple years before hitting theaters.


Categories: Animals, Film/TV
Tags: .

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • josh lamb

    Will it literally be in cinemas? I’d love to see and promote it!

  • Molly

    Anyone else find it funny that Paul’s movie would be named after Pete Bethune’s book?

    So unfortunate that Ledger can’t play Captain Watson’s part. He would have been stellar.
    Wonder who they’ll cast…

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Lamb/100000872581980 Josh Lamb

      Isn’t it funny that theres already a SSCS film called whale warrior way before pete the I went out for 3 months and so that makes me a whale warrior bethune book was even thought of. (Get cho facts straight)

  • imforthewhales

    Perhaps they will consider casting ginza glen inwood as paul watson…now i would pay to see that:)

    • Chris H.

      No, I hear that Glenn’s going to be busy playing the title role in “The Blob” remake…

      • imforthewhales

        Oh right, i heard Ginza Glenn was signing on to play a Japanese toilet in the remake of “Japanese story”.

      • crumpets are yummy

        I think the movie where glen is playing a Japanese toilet is the remake of “Final destination, Tokyo”.

        After all, this is where Japanese whale meat ultimately ends up…in the Ginza Glen, down the S bend and out into Tokyo harbor.

      • David

        I heard Paul, Peter Hammarstedt and Chuck Swift are starring in the sequel to The Human Centipede.

      • Chris H.

        Oh my, David, I never realized that you had such a wicked sense of humor…

  • Kimitake Hiraoka

    So Watson’s finally getting his dream of an indulgent bio-pic… Looks like all that time he spent hanging around Cannes finally paid off for the old tart. But Heath Ledger playing him? That’s just silly. It would have taken him years to put on that kind of weight.

    Alas, sounds like the film will just be a propaganda piece that white washes Watson’s history of brutal violence, shameless self-promotion and record of deceit and trechery. Not to mention his neglect of genuine conservation issues in favour of irrelevant and populist causes to gain personal media attention and financial gain.

    It will be interesting to see how they spin his expulsion from Greenpeace for being a violent and egotistical thug who was more interested in promoting himself that the conservation causes he purported to support. But I’m sure Watson will have sufficient in put to writing the script as to rewrite these more inconvenient aspects of his sinister past.

  • ednakano

    And when Paul Waston harpooned like southpark?
    They use blood made by tomaro ketchup and harpooned made by Paper.

    • http://www.Seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

      It was a cartoon Ednakano – no blood and no tomato ketchup and no paper harpoon. It’s called animation. Can you say “an-i-mat-ion?

      I loved the scene myself. We have our own South Park T shirts now by the way.

      • josh lamb

        Ha! ednakano gets owned once again! :D

  • http://www.herwinsvegancafe.com herwin

    love to see a whaling ship being rammed in 3D..

    • Sam

      Why 3D? Send a crew on a campaign, and you can have real footage!

  • georgina

    I will definitely go see it, and yeah, Heath Ledger would have been outstanding as Mr. Watson.

  • ednakano

    It would be bible of impostors.

    • http://www.seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

      Ednakano, tell your bosses at the ICR to get you a Rosetta Stone program for English. The things you say just do not make much sense.

      • ednakano

        Paul Watson is impostor and his movie will be text for criminals. I’m no relation with IRC. Paul Watson get pay from his sponser WWF.

  • http://www.Seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

    The script has already been written and production will be in 2011 with filming to be done primarily in Australia.

    Sea Shepherd has used the the words “whale wars” and “whale warriors” for years. The book Whale Warriors was written and published in 2007 by Peter Heller about the 2005/2006 Southern Ocean campaign, long before Pete Bethune’s book. My own book Ocean Warrior was published in 1993. I will be publishing a book entitled Whale Wars upon completion of the Southern Ocean campaigns. Peter Heller wrote about the 2005/2006 campaign. Pete Bethune wrote about his experiences on the 2009/2010 campaign. My book will cover all the campaigns since 2005.

    The film is based on my experiences over the last 35 years so it is hardly stealing anything from the fact that one of my crew wrote a book this year and decided to call it Whale Warrior. I should remind everyone that there were some 74 “whale warriors” in the Southern Ocean last season and more than 80 will participate this year so Pete Bethune does not have an exclusive claim on the title.

    Peter Brown produced a documentary film called Whale Warrior in 1995.

    The movie is actually based on my 1979 campaign to hunt down, ram and sink the pirate whaler “Sierra” on the Portuguese coast.

    This project has been in the works for a very long time and options for movie rights have been sold every year since 1981. It was first purchased by Warner Brothers to be directed by Tony Bill and the first option monies paid for the purchase of the Sea Shepherd II in 1981. Since then the project has been purchased by other companies and actors like Sean Penn, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Clive Owen, Rutger Haur, Martin Sheen and Jon Voight.

    As for South Park. That episode helped our cause tremendously. If I did not have a sense of humour, I would not have survived doing what I have been doing for the last three and a half decades.

    Operation No Compromise departs from Hobart, Tasmania on December 2nd.

    • ednakano

      SSCS typoe people have poor vocabulary and Best one is “Whale whores”.

      • georgina

        To ednakano: what?

      • josh lamb

        ednkano, you are paid by the ICR. You also have an account on youtube, and you have come down to insulting SSCS because your insults of claiming such things as Captain Watson is not actually a captain has been found false. Tell ICR that there reign of terror in our earths oceans will come to an end. The ICR is 150 million in debt to the Japanese goverment, you did not even break even last season, and this season you are bound to get much less with the SSCS having there new GOJIRA, new supped up ships, and new technology on there inflatables. This Atrosity will soon end, and you will be fired for not coming up with enough false shit about Captain Watson.

      • David

        Hey josh, do you have any proof or are you just a typical SSCS liar?

      • Josh Lamb

        Why dont you be more clear, I said like 7 things.

      • David

        OK.

        Proof that ednkano works for the ICR.

        Proof that Captain Watson has a captains license.

        Proof that the ICR ‘reign of terror’ will come to an end.

        Proof that the ICR is in debt to the Japanese government for 150 million.

        Proof that ‘this Atrosity[sic]‘ will soon end.

        Proof that ednkano will be fired.

        Is that like enough for you?

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Lamb/100000872581980 Josh Lamb

        if you have payed close attention over the past 2 years he has beeon on every sea shepherd videopost and ecorazzi story

        Unless your a dumbass(which you are) you would know that you cannot get in and out of as many ports as he does without a captains license.

        they are 150million dollars in debt to the japanese goverment, info on icr.org and icr members stating that they are getting funding from the japanese goverment, the whaling business has no money because over the past 2 years they have made almost $0 dollars and the cost is rounded up by oil (each small harpoon ship costs 2.5million to fill up, the mother ship costs 8-10million to fill up, food, water, crew, new devices, technology, cost of keeping the ships in tact,and many other expences.

        the japanese goverment will soon have to stop funding because it will be considered wasteful spending, they did not break even last season and this season will be even worse.

        no whaling, no more stalkers

      • David

        So you have no proof, thanks for the answers.

        Since the Steve Irwin is not a commercial vessel he doesn’t have to have a captain’s license.

        The ICR is technically PART of the Japanese government.

        And governments waste money everyday, the ICR is a minuscule part of the Japanese budget, and research isn’t supposed to make money.

        Now like could you answer the other questions?

      • imforthewhales

        Its true that research whaling is not supposed to make money. Thats because its research.

        However, there is no research whaling going on, anywhere in the world, and there has been no research whaling …ever.

        Japanese whaling is commercial and has been since at least 1983 when commercial whaling was banned.

        How so? they decided to whale commercially but disguise it under the banner of “research”.

        However the ICR and all the Japanese mafia flaks are finding it very hard to make money, though they do keep trying. Unfortunately for the Japanese tax payer, they are forced to cover the costs of this wasteful enterprise.

        Just think of what this money paid out to the ICR for ships, crew and oil could do for the people of Japan.

        Instead of wasting this money on ships that go hunting whales illegally inside designated international whale sanctuaries against world opinion, and then passing the whale meat around for the crew to take home, the ICR could cancel their commercial whale hunt and put the money towards saving the people in Japan who are living in despair and on the edge.

        Did you know…In 2009, the number of suicides rose 2 percent to 32,845 exceeding 30,000 for the twelfth straight year and equating to nearly 26 suicides per 100,000 people? This amounts to approximately one suicide every 15 minutes.

        Whaling and its costs are taking money away from saving these people.

        They don’t call the Nisshin Maru the Cetacean death star for nothing!

      • David

        That is a pretty simplistic explanation you have there iknowhowtofail.

        Just for now let’s say your right. You are saying that if the Japanese government used the money they currently use to support the ICR to provide some unexplained type of social services to Japanese citizens it would prevent at least some suicides, so the ICR is responsible for these preventable deaths.

        But why does the ICR need government support? The claim (made by Paul, the SSCS and the anti-whalers) has been that the government support is needed because Paul Watson and the SSCS prevent them from reaching their quota of whales and have to spend extra on security vessels and crews, implying that if they caught their quota and didn’t need security vessels they wouldn’t need government money. So it is actually Paul Watson and the SSCS that are directly responsible for these deaths.

        Of course your explanation is so simplistic as to be meaningless. You seem to think that the money the ICR gets just falls into some black hole. It doesn’t.

        It pays the salaries of hundreds of people. Shut down whaling and all those people are now unemployed, no longer paying taxes and need the government to support them.

        It buys supplies and equipment for the fleet. Shut down whaling and all the suppliers lose business. So they pay less in taxes on lower profits and lay off workers. Meaning more people unemployed, not paying taxes and on the government dole.

        And the whale meat is no longer available. So the people who would have bought and eaten the meat will have to replace it with some other food. Since Japan imports over 60% of their food, the replacement will almost assuredly be imported, worsening Japan’s balance of trade. Being imported, it will also probably cost more, causing an increase in the average food costs to Japanese citizens; forcing more of those already just scraping by to required government aid.

        So, Japanese tax revenue goes down, inflation goes up and the demand for government services increases. Obviously a detailed study of all the numbers involved would be required to determine whether there would be a net loss or a net gain, but I will make a bet that whichever way it goes it would be pretty close to neutral.

        And I haven’t even discussed the economic loss to Australia. I am sure the SSCS spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on fuel and supplies in Hobart, plus all the visitors who come to see the SSCS ships and stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. If the Southern Ocean campaign wasn’t needed because whaling had stopped, then the SSCS, their ships and crews would have no reason to be in Australia. It wouldn’t cause big problems but I feel sure it would have a measurable effect.

      • imforthewhales

        **it pays the salaries of hundreds of people. Shut down whaling and all those people are now unemployed, no longer paying taxes and need the government to support them.**

        So David, you are saying that Japanese whalers are useless individuals, uneducated with no skills whatsoever and if they were not whaling then they would be unable to find a job at all and be forced onto welfare?

        I find this to be a very simplistic argument , but even if this were true, then they are better off on welfare than slaughtering whales that do not belong to them.

        One could also make a case using your logic that would enable cat burglars and cocaine dealers to keep making a living by stealing & other illegal activities because they have a family to support and or/ they would end up on welfare without being able to trade in illegal substances and steal from others.

        When these guys are found, they would be tried and then thrown in the clink.

        As far as the whalers are concerned, I can think of a thousand things that they could be doing instead. With a lite retraining, they might decide to become a podiatrist or proctologist. They might open up a cake shop or take a leaf from the ex- whaler that set up whale watching tours off the Japanese coast.

      • imforthewhales

        And the whale meat is no longer available. So the people who would have bought and eaten the meat will have to replace it with some other food. Since Japan imports over 60% of their food, the replacement will almost assuredly be imported, worsening Japan’s balance of trade.

        The whales do not belong to Japan, and the Japanese fishermen and whalers must learn not to steal.

        Japan has a lot of problems stemming from the fact that the country is jammed full of people. In other words, Japan has exceeded its limits…it cannot sustain itself on its own. japan is living in a mess of its own making and those of us who do not live in Japan should not be forced to make allowances for a country that has lived in denial for so long.

        One of the best ways for Japan to reduce its balance of trade would be for people to start growing their own vegetables and switch over to a more vegetarian diet. Sure , i know there is a limit on land and so froth, but a balcony can grow all sorts of amazing things, given a little ingenuity.

        Eating vegetables uses far less resources than eating beef or chicken for example..which sees large amounts of grain and water.

      • imforthewhales

        **So, Japanese tax revenue goes down, inflation goes up and the demand for government services increases. **

        Hang on a second, are we talking about research whaling here or a commercial enterprise?

        The way I see it, the Japanese government is propping up its “research” whaling with little to no return…in fact by all accounts the return is a large negative.

        Therefore by removing whaling from the mix, there will be more money to splash around and to share amongst the Japanese people, such as those who commit suicide on a daily basis.

        did yo know that at least two Japanese people committed suicide while i wrote this down?

      • imforthewhales

        ***And I haven’t even discussed the economic loss to Australia. I am sure the SSCS spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on fuel and supplies in Hobart, plus all the visitors who come to see the SSCS ships and stay in hotels and eat in restaurants***

        Nice try, but surely you realize that whale watching is one of the biggest growth busineses in Australia? yes thats right! so less Japanese whaling= more whales= more revenue to Australia.

      • David

        So iusuallyfail, you believe that there are hundreds of open jobs in Japan that the whalers can just step into? Gee I didn’t think even you were that stupid.

        Your analogy fails because whaling is legal.

        So you have no good argument to the food issue.

        So your answer to the revenue issue is to lie about what I said? The tax revenue comes form the salaries the whalers get and the companies that sell supplies to the fleet.

        “did yo know that at least two Japanese people committed suicide while i wrote this down?”

        It took you over 30 minutes to write that? I suggest a typing class.

        So you claim that there are people who don’t go to Australia because there aren’t enough whales to watch? And all that whale watching is in and around Hobart?

    • josh lamb

      Very Cool Captain Watson, Thanks for the info! :)

  • charles darwin

    oh goody goody can’t wait ….cant he leave AU any sooner? strange he never mentioned Heath Ledger..not a word that Heath accepted or that he even spoke to Heath, for a media whore very strange indeed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Hughes/1560850884 Scott Hughes

    haters hate…..tis what they do! Looking forward to the movie.

  • http://www.yahoo.com Animals_deserve_rights

    Best of luck to you and the crew on this years campaign Captain. Give them hell!! Looking forward to the movie. Anything to help raise awareness and help stop the molesters!!

  • josh lamb

    Ny Times Movies reports ‘Ewan McGregor’ will play Captain Watson

    Very suitable!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Magdalna-Schneibergov/100000331601102 Magdaléna Schneibergová

      Hi, how do you know about that? Ny Times didn´t publish that news…

      • josh lamb

        Its on NyTimes Movies

  • imforthewhales

    If anyone would like to help out this years SS campaign, please consider buying a ten dollar voucher for the Sea Shepherd kitchen from the organics store in Tasmania. The ships will be leaving for real in about ten days time.

    cheers & thanx :)

    http://online.cityorganics.com.au/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=sea+shepherd

  • http://www.seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

    I find it hard to understand why anyone can possibly take any of the negative comments from the same old posters very seriously. First they have no credibility because we do not even know who they are. They fire off hate messages and ignorant statements from behind computer screens without any credentials or any proof that they are in a position to know anything at all. They could be rebellious teens or drug addled trailer park boys for all we know. They could be working for the Institute for Cetacean Research or they could simply be bored individuals dissatisfied with their lives who receive some sort of ego validation by verbally attacking people they have never met and know nothing about. They demand answers to questions yet they refuse to reveal either their identities or their agendas.

    I find it interesting that there are people who find it objectionable to defend whales and sharks, turtles and fish. And not only do the object, they spend time in a fruitless exercise of attacking those people who defend endangered species and work to conserve resources on this planet.

    I suppose they believe that their opinions count for something even though no one knows who the hell they are. It’s sort of a verbal masterbation where they the goal is self gratification in seeing their name and opinions posted as if they have actually accomplished something of importance or influence in doing so.

    Of the billions of people on this planet, I continue to see a very small handful of a couple of dozen people who have fastened themselves to our cause like little leeches, sucking self gratification from our activities and doing very little themselves. A couple of dozen people whose names and backgrounds lie buried from view and who feel entitled to spew their negativity in our direction as if they are doing something constructive or meaningful.

    I don’t mind criticism. In fact I court criticism all the time and I demand only one thing from my critics and that is the courage to tell me who the hell you are and by what authority and with what experience you presume to sit in judgment of our activities or views.

    There is no problem with disagreeing with us. I think that valid criticisms can be constructive but this striking from the dark like a coward is really beneath contempt and quite frankly not to be taken seriously at all.

    The internet anon poster is the modern day equivalent to the dirty little coward who hides behind the barn door with a shotgun waiting to shoot the hero in the back because he is fears to face his opposition face to face.

    So if you would like to criticize Sea Shepherd or myself, please do so but have the decency and the courage to tell us who you are and by what authority your opinion should be valued.

    Otherwise, you’re just a troll with no name, spewing venom like a wounded spider, impotent and useless, contributing nothing at all to any debate or forum. In short – a craven loser!

    • David

      Everything you say about anonymity of those who post in opposition to you applies equally to all those who post in support of you. Doesn’t it?

      They demand answers to questions yet they refuse to reveal either their identities or their agendas. Don’t they?

      And haven’t you claimed to have proof of who some of these posters are? I know some of your anonymous supporters claim to have proof of who some of them are. Of course neither they nor you have ever posted any of this proof. I guess you are just above having to prove your statements.

      When your detractors post facts with reference to the source, does it really matter who they are and why they are posting? Facts are facts no matter the source. If Ted Bundy had said the sun appears to rise in the east and that grass is green would it be any less true because of who said it?

      But of course you don’t care about and you ignore your detractors, as you have repeatedly posted, even though most of your posts seem to be addressed to or at your detractors. I must misunderstand what ignore means.

      • imforthewhales

        david..you got fried, man.

      • David

        “First they have no credibility because we do not even know who they are. They fire off hate messages and ignorant statements from behind computer screens without any credentials or any proof that they are in a position to know anything at all. They could be rebellious teens or drug addled trailer park boys for all we know.”

        You do realize all those words apply to you also?

        So i guess you got fried imforthewhales. And by your hero. That must really burn.

    • Michael Raymer

      Good post Paul. I’ve been saying the same thing since I first came in here. When one takes a moment and examines the nature of some of the pissing contests that we have seen in here, the agendas of the actual people become clear.

      “They demand answers to questions yet they refuse to reveal either their identities or their agendas.”

      I would add that they demand these answers and then ignore them when the valid answer is given. I have run into this phenomenon many of times with Mick, David, romika and others (this ednakano guy is new to me, but same crap, different handle). Hit them with up-front verified truth and they find somewhere else to be in a hurry.

      I like the fact that you come here and I’m always interested in reading what you say. But stick with the whales. There’s enough of us here to handle the trolls for you. We gotcha back, my brutha!

      And if you don’t mind me asking, how’s Chuck ….. excuse me, Captain Chuck Swift doing? Is he coming back? I hope so. I don’t pretend to be the Ancient Mariner or anything but, I know good leadership when I see it. Chuck is a keeper.

      • Captain Paul Watson

        Thanks Michael,

        Great advice. I am getting somewhat over whelmed with only two weeks to go before our ships depart for the Southern Ocean. So thanks very much. I very much appreciate your support for Sea Shepherd.

        As for Chuck Swift. He is in charge of our international groups and and is the deputy CEO for Sea Shepherd.

        The Captains this year will be myself on the Steve Irwin, Alex Cornelissen on the Bob Barker and Locky MacLean on the Gojira.

      • imforthewhales

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7gFlSGXt_k

        Godzilla/ Gojira is comin to getya

    • romika3

      Mr. Watson, you have made a living attacking the common fisherperson (sealer, whaler etc), doing your upmost to demonize he “little” fisherperson who make peanuts from a hard living, setting them up to get the best videos and images, selecting issues based on their money making and media potential and relative safety. This is the easy stuff!!!! What is real conservation? It goes far beyond your organization’s shallow approach of employing violence and terror, selling tee shirts, and dancing around in front of the camera doing nothing but pretending to be pirates in the safety of international waters. Here is the challenge, over two hundred fin whales are taken off of Icland (they are endangered), only one was taken in the Southern Ocean by Japan. Go to the waters off of iceland and do your stuff.

      • imforthewhales

        You’re right, sealers and whalers are common…too common in fact. They are two species I would love to see go extinct.

      • romika3

        impforthewhales: “You’re right, sealers and whalers are common…too common in fact. They are two species I would love to see go extinct.” Are you the individual (who is a medical doctor) who, five years ago, stated publicly that he would support the killing of sealers?

      • imforthewhales

        Nice try Romika but whalers and sealers are defined by what they do. Once they stop whaling and sealing then they cease to be whalers and sealers. Can you understand the difference?

      • romika3

        impforthewhales: So what are you trying to say? Are you the one who avocates the killing of sealers over the killing of seals?

    • romika3

      “They fire off hate messages and ignorant statements from behind computer screens without any credentials or any proof that they are in a position to know anything at all.” is that what the SSCS does!!! except they also do it from boats and over the telephone.

      • imforthewhales

        “”Captain Paul Watson, October 13, 2010 at 7:27 pm

        I have been given information that the person calling himself Romika3, who makes it his business to troll the internet making negative comments about Sea Shepherd and I is actually a paid troll, receiving funding from the Institute of Cetacean Research. That explains why he has so much time on his hands to post comments on every single Sea Shepherd story on Ecorazzi and other social networks. Apparently the ICR has quite a few internet “consultants” hired specifically to spread disinformation.

        However it really has no effect on our operations. Sea Shepherd has never been a large organization and has no ambition to become a large organization. We like to keep it small and under control and our membership is loyal and undeterred by media negativity.

        What is important is that we are all set to go at the end of November with Operation No Compromise and our objective is to cut whale kill quotas and to negate whaling profits. Our support in Australia has grown considerably.

        I am confident that we will be even more effective this next season than we were last season.

        Captain Paul Watson”"

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Josh-Lamb/100000872581980 Josh Lamb

        thank you!

      • romika3

        I hear an echo. It that all you got?

      • imforthewhales

        Its all thats needed romika3…cheers

      • romika3

        Impforthewhales: Another echo from a shallow poster employed by the SSCS.

  • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

    Paul, we’ve been waiting for a response from SSCS to our criticism of you tactics (not motives) in the Southern Ocean for nearly 8 months now.

    http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=4424

    It seems as though you’re more than happy to respond to anonymous trolls on the internet, but less inclined when the issue are raised by marine biologists (which for the record, though we like the flair our pseudonyms have, any cursory google search will reveal exactly who we are). The invitation to respond remains open and we would gladly link directly to your response from the body of the original post.

    Furthermore, while you probably haven’t seen it, I’m sure the author of Iron Dice, a professional military strategist (who has no stake in the whaling issue but did a tactical analysis of your methods, as presented on Whale Wars, for fun) would be interested in you assessment of his analyses:

    http://irondice.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/whaling-protesters-and-strategy/

    http://irondice.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/whaling-protestors-and-strategy-part-ii/

    • imforthewhales

      Comment removed.

      • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

        What website, Iron Dice? You don’t think a professional military strategist has something valuable to add to what is essentially a military campaign?

      • http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael dEstries

        imforthwhales, Please watch the language.

      • Chris H.

        “Professional military strategist”?

        Is this one of the same guys that came up with the US exit strategy for Iraq, or for the capture of Osama Bin Laden?

  • http://www.seashepherd.org Captain Paul Watson

    Sorry I don’t know who you people are so I have no intention of responding to your tiresome and boring queries.

    Sea Shepherd enjoys the support of some of the foremost scientists in the world. We also enjoy the support of many experts in the field of law, politics, policing, economics and the arts.

    Tell me who you are David and Southern Fried Scientist guy with credentials and I’ll respond but until then you’re wasting your time and you are wasting my time. Ednakano we know who you are and who you work for.

    BTW, This will be a very big budget movie and will further our cause considerably and I know that irritates the hell out you types.

    • romika3

      “Sea Shepherd enjoys the support of some of the foremost scientists in the world” please provide a list.

      • Captain Paul Watson

        I’m sorry. Who are you and why should I provide you with a list of anything? If you want a list please add your name, tell me who you are and I will do so.
        Oh by the way just check out our advisory board.

      • romika3

        All I can say is Canadian, any more would result in threating phone calls from organizations that are either directly or indirectly linked to the SSCS. Not much “meat” in those on the advisory board.

      • imforthewhales

        Good old Romika3…the ICR must be about due to give you a payrise, yes? you have been a busy boy!

        Captain Paul Watson, October 13, 2010 at 7:27 pm

        “I have been given information that the person calling himself Romika3, who makes it his business to troll the internet making negative comments about Sea Shepherd and I is actually a paid troll, receiving funding from the Institute of Cetacean Research. That explains why he has so much time on his hands to post comments on every single Sea Shepherd story on Ecorazzi and other social networks. Apparently the ICR has quite a few internet “consultants” hired specifically to spread disinformation.

        However it really has no effect on our operations. Sea Shepherd has never been a large organization and has no ambition to become a large organization. We like to keep it small and under control and our membership is loyal and undeterred by media negativity. ”

        Captain Paul Watson

      • David

        Very good iknowhowtofail. You have learn to cut and paste. Now try and find some proof and not just post unsubstantiated rumors.

      • imforthewhales

        Yes you do david, big time.

        Oh no, gorzilla!

      • Chris H.

        Congratulations Romika!

        You finally managed to spell “Canadian” correctly!

        Now you just have to work on the word “threatening”.

        Btw, just because you don’t recognize names like Dr. Louise Leakey, Dr. Sidney Holt, and Dr. Birute Galdikas, it doesn’t mean that these people are unimportant.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Leakey

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverton%E2%80%93Holt_model

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birut%C4%97_Galdikas

        I guess you were hoping to see “Dr. Frankenstein” and “Professor Moriarty”.

      • romika3

        Chris H, the one who raises cattle in confined pens. I did check out the members of the SSCS advisory board. How many free tee shirts did Paul Watson give them in return for posting their names on his web site?

    • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

      Well Capt. Watson, I’m going to treat you request as genuine instead of evasive and dismissive. The author bios for all three writers of Southern Fried Science can be found here:

      http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?page_id=5124

      If you’d like more, a short list of our highest rated peer-reviewed research posts, including several that have been highly praised in the scientific community can bee found here:

      http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?page_id=4820 (you’d probably be most interested in the Krill Surplus Hypothesis article, as it pertains to Japanese Whaling in the Southern Ocean and also the California Sea-Otter post as it was a direct response to sharks-are-monsters propaganda).

      Finally, since we’re all talking about whales and whaling, we have an ongoing discussion about Moby Dick here:

      http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?page_id=7199 (not really a credential, mostly just fun).

      And just in case you’d rather dismiss us as just another Anti-SSCS blog, realizing that the main authors were all of one mind on the issue, we invited one of our frequent commenters to write a rebuttal to our own articles:

      http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=911

      I’m not sure why you think a big budget movie would irritate me. I want y’all to succeed, I just don’t think given your current strategy and conservation philosophy, you will. Please prove me wrong.

      • imforthewhales

        SOUTHERN FRIED SCIENCE…ARE YOU IN ADVERTISING? IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO PLUG YOUR WEBSITE…IVE LOOKED AT IT AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT ITS NOT VERY GOOD.

      • Chris H.

        Andrew,

        could you please post more links to your website “Southern Fried Science”, because I’m not sure that I’ll be able to find it.

        Thanks in advance.

      • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

        Yup, I’m spearheading a massive advertising campaign design to cull literally tens of hits from Ecorazzi. It’s a deeply insidious plot that reaches to the highest levels of whatever weird marketing conspiracy currently runs the show.

        Either that or I took the Captains request for some background information seriously and provided links to specific items instead of just saying “go to my website”.

      • Chris H.

        Andrew,

        you must realize that a bio that says “My name is Andrew and I’m a marine biologist” is not exactly compelling when it comes to describing who you are, and what your credentials are.

        From what I read on your site, it looks to me like you just created a nice little self congratulatory society.

        Don’t you think that it’s a bit arrogant of you to demand Paul Watson to come to your website and respond to your petty criticisms when he’s busy preparing to go and do some real conservation work?

        And yes, I do think that you’re trying to steer more traffic, including Paul Watson, to your self aggrandizing site.

      • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

        Well Chris, I asked a question. Paul responded “Tell me who you are David and Southern Fried Scientist guy with credentials and I’ll respond” so I did so. No, I don’t think that’s arrogant, if you do, that’s your deal, but blog comment threads are a place to exchange thoughts and ideas. I understand that some people are powerfully adverse to being exposed to differing thoughts and ideas, but no one’s forcing you to read or click anything.

        But you’re right, I do want people to read those posts. Maybe some readers will change their minds and decide to support conservation organizations that get results instead of eco-theater.

      • Chris H.

        Andrew,

        you have not really said who you are or what your credentials are. You posted a link to a bio about a grad student called Andrew who gets mad at his boat and throws things overboard. It reads more like you’re looking for a date, rather than establishing your credentials.

        As far as the board is concerned, you’re just the “Southern Fried Scientist” who likes to post links back to his own website. If you want to claim authority on this subject (as you are doing), then perhaps you could tell us what your undergraduate degree was in, and where you obtained it.

        You say you are a graduate student, but you don’t say where. How difficult would it be to say:

        “My name is Andrew Thaler and I am a grad student at Duke University”?

        Have you written, or published, any papers? If so, link to them (instead of your website).

        Btw, I read your piece on the Krill Surplus Hypothesis, and it was hilarious. You fault Dr. Palumbi and his group for NOT manipulating his results to fit his hypothesis, and then you use this display of academic integrity to suggest that they must be opposed to Japanese whaling…

        For the benefit of the board, here’s the relevant paragraph:

        “But beyond simply rejecting the null hypothesis, they rejected it with the most conservative possibly [sic] parameters. They made every effort to confirm the Krill Surplus Hypothesis but could not. It would have been simple to use a different mutation model, to calculate a harmonic population size that would have put the estimate higher, increasing the likelihood that their results would confirm their bias (I can only assume that Palumbi et al are opposed to Japanese whaling). But by collecting and analyzing the data in the most rigorous way, they’ve provided the strongest possible rejection of the Krill Surplus Hypothesis.”

        So it appears that your solution, when the results don’t fit your preconceived ideas, is to fudge the numbers. Some scientist…

      • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

        Wow, you totally misread that passage. Palumbi, knowing his own bias, went out of his way to attempt to disprove it, and failed to do so, making his research as robust as possible. That’s not fault, that’s praise. Perhaps you’re just looking too hard for things to be contrarian about. It would have been easy to use less rigorous methods, but they didn’t, instead discrediting the krill surplus hypothesis with a nearly unassailable analysis. My solution is not to manipulate data as you seem to want to so, but rather to identify your own biases in research an ensure that I’ve done everything possible to correct for those biases.

      • http://southernfriedscience.com Southern Fried Scientist

        The passage Chris is quoting out of context to make it seem as though I’m criticizing Palumbi’s work reads:

        “Back to the Minke whales. Dr. Steve Palumbi and his team sampled Minke whale meat collected from seafood markets in Japan. They amplified several regions of DNA in order to get an estimate of historic population diversity and calibrated that against mutation rates and generation times to produce an estimate of historic population size. They determined that the long-term estimate of population size for the Minke whale was 671,000 (with a 95% confidence interval between 374,000 and 1,150,000 individuals), well within the range for estimates of contemporary population size. In short, the hypothesis that contemporary minke whale populations are larger than historic populations was rejected.

        But beyond simply rejecting the null hypothesis, they rejected it with the most conservative possibly parameters. They made every effort to confirm the Krill Surplus Hypothesis but could not. It would have been simple to use a different mutation model, to calculate a harmonic population size that would have put the estimate higher, increasing the likelihood that their results would confirm their bias (I can only assume that Palumbi et al are opposed to Japanese whaling). But by collecting and analyzing the data in the most rigorous way, they’ve provided the strongest possible rejection of the Krill Surplus Hypothesis.

        This is what I was talking about in “The Data Speak” good data don’t need spin, they need to be publicly available and presented to stakeholders. Steve Palumbi is an advocate, a strong passionate advocate, but his data stand on their own, independent of the scientist’s ideals.”

      • Chris H.

        Andrew,

        so why the assumption “that Palumbi et al are opposed to Japanese whaling”? Just because his results discredit “Japan’s primary scientific and ethical justification for the continued removal of Minke whales from the Antarctic” doesn’t mean that that they are necessarily anti-whaling. You attempt to denigrate their work by dropping the suggestion that they allowed personal bias to influence their results, which, in turn, illuminates your own bias.

        Why not point out that Palumbi’s adherence to rigorous scientific principles is admirable, even though his results do not support your POV?

        Since we are so concerned about context, I’d also like to point out that earlier in the piece, you regurgitate the old quote from Japanese Fisheries Agency official Maseyuku Komatsu, who described Minke Whales as “cockroaches of the sea”. I know that you’re more interested in tube worms and fungi, but do you really think that dredging up such an extreme viewpoint from the pro-whaling community does anything to assure your readers of your objectivity on the issue of whale population drivers? Do you also refer to undergrads as “the cockroaches of the campus” (now that you’re a big ‘ole grad student), or would that that betray a certain disdain for your fellow students?

        You claim the mantle of science, but your words betray your lack of objectivity.

        Btw, don’t think that I didn’t notice that you completely side-stepped the first half of my post. You seem eager to trade on your credentials as a “scientist”, and yet so shy about revealing exactly what those credentials are… If I had a suspicious mind, I might think that you were trying to hide something…

    • http://none MikeE

      WE KNOW YOUR BIG SECRET THIS YEAR AND HAVE ALREADY NOTIFIED THE ICR! you should be more careful who you talk too. HAHAHA.

      • Chris H.

        Well MikeE, if you’ve already told the ICR, you might as well share it with the rest of us, unless, of course, you’re just bluffing…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jackie-Ford/524090678 Jackie Ford

    Looking forward to seeing the movie :)

  • imforthewhales

    Ooooohhh theres a big secret! Watch out whalers!

    Sea Shepherd are comin to getchya!

    HAR HAR HAR ME HEARTIES

  • imforthewhales

    I do hope that this dude isn’t paying the trolls on here!

    Wouldnt that be just awful!

    Japanese police nab yakuza boss

    http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/austral…b-yakuza-boss/
    apanese

    police have arrested the country’s number two organised crime boss in a crackdown on the country’s mafia.

    The Japanese yakuza has tens of thousands of members involved in everything from protection rackets to drugs and prostitution.

    In the operation, 140 police officers surrounded the headquarters of Kiyoshi Takayama.

    The second-highest ranking gangster in the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate, Takayama has been charged with extorting $500,000 from a construction boss.

    The Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan’s largest yakuza group, with 50,000 members turning over billions in illegal proceeds every year.
    Takayama’s arrest is part of a police crackdown against the yakuza, whose members often sport full-body tattoos

    • romika3

      So what does this have to do with the discussion?

  • crumpets are yummy

    Can this cow dung get more fans than the Institute of Cetacean Research

    http://www.facebook.com/ICRisBullshit#!/ICRisBullshit?v=wall

  • Josh lamb

    Haha @romika right after we find out he’s being paid by the ICR and asking for evidence then says imforthewhales is paid by ss with no evidence. Funny. And one more thing a ss member has never been violent towards any sealer but the sealers have struck ss members many times with long killing sticks. Pshhhh

  • Bob

    Paul’s already in a movie! On youtube! Check it out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_gTBDFTXE0

    • Michael Raymer

      I vote that the next person who posts this vid, thinking even for a second that they’re showing it to us for the first time and not the 45th time, gets permanently exiled to the “Nerd” section of the cafeteria. Who’s with me?

      New Rule: You can’t post a video interview that’s older than you are. And that count’s, I’m sure, for the vast majority of pro-whalers here. Stick with South Park. It’s more in your comfort zone.

  • Chris H.

    Ah Bob, you sneaky devil you.

    That’s an interview from 32 years ago, and Watson is talking about Greenpeace’s fund raising and spending practices, not Sea Shepherds’. This interview took place less than one year after Watson was voted off the board of Greenpeace (because he wanted to spend more of the donated money on operations and less on fund raising).

    Paul Watson has often publicly criticized Gp for how much money they spend to raise more money, and how little they spend on operations. In contrast, SSCS spends almost all of the money donated to them on operations (79%), and very little on staff salaries (13.2%) and fund raising (7.4%). They are rated as one of the most efficiently run charitable organizations out there, period. Charity Navigator gives them 4 stars out of 4 for their organizational efficiency, and 4 out of 4 for their overall rating.

    http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5784

    It should also be noted that in this interview Barbara Frum (mother of David Frum, a well known conservative, and speechwriter for George W. Bush) practices very poor journalism by asking mostly “leading” questions. That is, she indicates the answers that she’s looking for in the way that she words her questions. She is practically putting words in Mr. Watson’s mouth. This is the hallmark of an interviewer with an agenda, and it is considered to be very poor journalism.

    • Bob

      Spin, spin, spin. Do you ever get tired of doing damage control for paulie? Here’s another movie with Paulie in it:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ5TajZYW6Y

      • Chris H.

        It’s not spin Bob, it’s all factual information that can be easily verified by anyone who chooses to do so…

    • Dave

      None of that changes the fact that Watson was cynical about Greenpeace “saving” the Harp Seal – which doesn’t need saving – but then turned around and started using it as a cash cow just like he had criticized Greenpeace for doing.

      You’re a master of obfuscation… in your own head, anyway.

  • Pingback: Ewan McGregor Cast As Anti-Whaling Captain Paul Watson « ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

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