Lately it seems like Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson is all over the news! Just last week, Watson took to Ecorazzi to share his thoughts on South Park’s parody of his organization, explaining:

“I have to say that being lampooned on South Park is hardly something to complain about. They spelt Sea Shepherd right and they brought the issue of the dolphin and whale slaughter by the Japanese to a very large audience. I could not really care less how I was portrayed personally, I’m in good company along with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn.”

Well, on November 11th, New York City residents will have the chance to meet the man with the plan at a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society fundraiser at Moo Shoes in Manhattan.

The event is being thrown by PPath’s Kelly Overton and will include delicious food, music by Princess Superstar and a speech by the good campaign himself.

Tickets are extremely limited and going fast! To get your all access pass to the event, email Kelly at Kelly_Overton@post.harvard.edu. See ya there!

[Editor Note: Due to a scheduling conflict, this event has been cancelled. Sorry, Charlie.]

Wednesday night’s airing of the latest South Park episode Whale Whores created quite the conversation in our early morning recap. While some praised the message of the show, others felt that it went a little too far in playing Wack-A-Mole with Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson.

Not one to shy away from controversy, Watson stopped by the comments to share his feelings on the show — and explain why South Park’s exposure was worth the satirical abuse. In his own words,

I have to say that being lampooned on South Park is hardly something to complain about. They spelt Sea Shepherd right and they brought the issue of the dolphin and whale slaughter by the Japanese to a very large audience. I could not really care less how I was portrayed personally, I’m in good company along with Tom Cruise and Sean Penn.”

It’s a tough situation we are in. We can’t hurt the whalers and we have to stay within the boundaries of the law in opposing illegal whaling operations. If that makes us pussies so be it, it’s better than being portrayed as killers. The point however that was missed is that we have cut the Japanese kill quotas in half over the last three years and cost them their profits. Our objective is to bankrupt them and we are doing just that.

South Park has however linked Japan to the horrific and senseless slaughter of dolphins and whales and all in all that’s a damn good message in our opinion.

What the Whale Whores episode also achieved was to highlight just how successful Whale Wars has been as a television show and how Sea Shepherd is out on the high seas actually trying to do something about the problem.

Captain Paul Watson
Captain – The Steve Irwin

Last night, South Park went straight for the heart of the Japanese whaling controversy with their episode titled Whale Whores. If you’ve watched Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, seen The Cove, or read any one of our many articles on the issue, you’ll find that South Park creators Matt and Trey probably did the same. The episode satirically attacks on all levels and makes everyone involved look ridiculous. True to the style of the series, however, everything ties up neatly with a message that puts the entire debate in perspective.

If you’ve seen the preview, you know that the show starts off with the Japanese, portrayed in traditional dress, attacking dolphins and whales in marine parks around America. Not even the Miami Dolphins football team survives. Stan, who is visibly upset at witnessing one of the killings, (His father holds him saying, “Hey pal, I’m sorry your birthday was ruined by the Japanese.”) declares that something must be done. None of his friends will help, but he gets a tip about a show that saves whales and will accept volunteers. Naturally, that series is Whale Wars and South Park doesn’t hold back on portraying it as show with zero drama. Within the first three minutes of Stan joining the crew, a beer-bellied Paul Watson is harpooned by the Japanese; with one of the SS crew members exclaiming, “Maybe he’s ok!”

Stan, upset that the Sea Shepherd crew doesn’t do anything but throw butter bombs, takes matters into his own hands and ends up sinking one of the Japanese whaling ships. He then takes over for Watson as captain. Suddenly, everyone is totally into Whale Wars and its ratings skyrockets. Various magazine headlines proclaim “New Captain Turns Vegan Pussies Into Real Pirates” and “Whale Wars Gets Better: Things Actually Happen!”

I’ll leave describing every detail there and just let you watch it — but let’s just say that the Larry King segment is a vehicle to further lampoon Watson. At one point King says, “Their old captain, Paul Watson, was an unorganized, incompetent, media whore who thought lying to everyone was okay as long as it served his cause.” Ouch.

In the end, which includes a hilarious encounter with the crew from Deadliest Catch, Stan finds out that the reason the Japanese hate dolphins and whales so much is because they believe they were piloting the Enola Gay when it dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. That’s what the Americans told them in the aftermath. To further his cause, Stan doctors a photo showing the plane was actually piloted by a chicken and cow. The Japanese then attack cows and chickens, with Stan’s father saying proudly to his son, “Good job, son. Now the Japanese are normal, like us.” See what they did there?

What did you think of it? Too much? Good for a laugh? Let us know! Check out the full episode here.

The early drama for this year’s “Whale Wars” appears to have been resolved.

According to The Age, an Australian newspaper, Watson’s visa to join the rest of his Sea Shepherd crew in the country was granted yesterday. The move came after some tense weeks of delay on the part of the Australian government; an action that was seen as giving in to Japanese pressure. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship, however, fought back at critics saying it was a matter of the type of visa Watson applied for that made the difference.  “Though Mr Watson may have previously visited Australia as a tourist, the visa required for that type of visit is quite different to that for a short-term business visit, which is what is required for his forthcoming trip,” the department said in a statement. “This is a matter being handled by the department in a manner no different to the standard procedures in place for the processing of millions of visa applications each year.”

Nevertheless, Watson believed the delay to be more than just red tape and slammed the Australian government and their handling of the situation. “I am confident that the Australian people will send their voice to Canberra to support us and the whales. Rudd and Garrett need to be reminded that it was not the Japanese whalers who voted them into power, it was Australian citizens, and Australians want the bloody slaughter in the Southern Ocean ended.”

Well, game on. We’re not sure if 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt, who also was held up in visa limbo, has been approved — but one can assume he’s packing his bags as well.

Sea Shepherd’s “Operation Waltzing Matilda” kicks off this December.

The whaling season hasn’t even started yet, and already the heat is rising down under.

The drama began late last week when Paul Watson, founder and president of Sea Shepherd, had his visa application for Australia held up. In previous years, the anti-whaling activist was freely admitted to the country — but now Australia is saying he must satisfy exhaustive new good-character requirements to get a business visa. This, despite the fact that Watson has never received a felony conviction and is not wanted on any warrants.

Obviously, the whole thing reeks of political red tape — the kind that Japan has recently been pressuring Australia to dole out against the Sea Shepherd and her crew. Captain Watson isn’t taking the matter lightly and posted a critique of the Australian government and their handling of the situation on the organization’s website. His words are below:

“Way back in October 2007, I had urged thousands of Australians to vote for Kevin Rudd and Peter Garrett’s Labor Party. Why? Because they promised to get tough on illegal Japanese whaling. They promised to take Japan to court. They promised to send a ship down to the Southern Ocean to monitor the illegal activities. They had severely criticized the former Howard government for not doing enough.”

“Since then Rudd and Garrett have demonstrated that they have done far less for the whales than former Environment Minister Ian Campbell had done.”

“Under Campbell, Australia was the toughest voice at the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission. Under Garrett, the whales have become a very minor concern. Under Campbell, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was given encouragement and support. Under Garrett, we have been disparaged, and now we are being harassed as the Rudd government seeks to sabotage Sea Shepherd efforts to defend the whales.”

“Peter Garrett does not want our ship the Steve Irwin to return to the Southern Ocean in December. Why? Because the government of Japan has requested that the Australian government intervene to prevent us from returning to the Southern Oceans.”

“Legally, they can’t stop the Steve Irwin from departing for the Antarctic coast but it appears they believe they have found a way to sabotage our mission.”

“And thus I, and my 1st officer, Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden, have had our visas to enter Australia cancelled and our new applications denied. My Bosun, Dan Bebawi of the U.K. was ordered off his plane at London Heathrow and was told that his visa was no longer valid. After a week and an expensive re-issue of his ticket, he was given a limited visa.”

“The story is not so simple for Peter Hammarstedt and I.”

“The Immigration department is now demanding that Peter and I provide police reports from Norway, Canada, and the United States in order to proceed further on the visa application. Once these reports are received, we will be informed of additional requirements.”

“In other words, they will make us jump through bureaucratic hoops for months if need be to prevent us from re-joining our ship in Australia.”

“I do not have a single felony conviction on my record from any nation in the world. There is not a single warrant out for my arrest. Japan has not pressed charges. Our flag nation of the Netherlands has not charged us with anything. I have entered and reentered Australia dozens of times without incident, but now only a few weeks after Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was given an ultimatum by Japan to stop Sea Shepherd, Peter Hammarstedt and I have found that our return to our own ship has been blocked without any reason given.”

“This year our campaign has been named Operation Waltzing Matilda in recognition of the fact that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has received overwhelming support from the people of Australia.”

“Australia has been our base for operations against Japan’s illegal whaling operations since 2005 and Australians have demonstrated that Australia is the most passionate nation on Earth when it comes to defending the great whales from the illegal and viciously cruel whaling activities of the Japanese whaling fleet.”

“Unfortunately, this support from the people for the whales is not reflected in the actions of the government of Australia.”

“The Rudd government has turned its back on all the “get tough on whaling promises” they made before the election and has now become more submissively loyal to the demands of the Japanese government than to the concerns of the Australian people that elected them.”

“The Steve Irwin left Brisbane this month on a tour of Australia to raise support for Operation Waltzing Matilda. Under the command of Dutch captain Alex Cornelissen, the ship is presently berthed at Circular Quay in Sydney across from the Sydney Opera House.”

“The Steve Irwin is scheduled to visit Melbourne and Hobart before reaching Fremantle, the port where the ship will depart in December for the coast if Antarctica.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot be onboard my own ship during this tour until a visa is granted, something that was simply routinely granted prior to last month. I am now being informed by the Australian Visa office that this “harassment” is routine. They need to establish that I am of “good character” prior to issuing a visa.”

“Of course, the Australian Federal Police could and most likely already have obtained all the records on me that they require. Despite this, I need to spend hundreds of dollars and weeks of time tracking down the police reports on my “character.””

“Strangely enough, I have found that it is easier to get a police report if you have an actual criminal record than if you have no record at all. Since I have never been convicted of any crime in the United States, I have been told that I need an F.B.I. report saying that I have never been convicted of any crime in the United States. This requires being fingerprinted and filling out a lengthy report requesting a document stating that no police criminal record exists. If this is considered “routine” then no one would be visiting Australia at all.”

“Japan is mobilizing every bureaucratic measure they can to prevent us from engaging their whale poaching fleet this year. They are leaning on the Dutch government to strike our flag. They are leaning on the Australian government to intervene. They have made requests of the United States and Canada to prevent Sea Shepherd and I from continuing our efforts to defend the whales.”

“Despite this, we are on target for departure for early December and I will be there, visa or no visa. Peter Hammarstedt will also be there. No power short of a bullet will prevent us from returning to the Southern Ocean in December to once again cut the illegal Japanese quota in half and to negate their illicit profits.”

“Operation Waltzing Matilda is on target and with the Steve Irwin joined this year by the Earthrace, we will mount the most ambitious and most aggressive effort to date to obstruct the slaughter of the whales in the Southern Ocean.”

“The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is organizing a petition drive of Australians to support the character requirements for Peter Hammarstedt and myself.”

“We have less than two months to secure the visas to allow us to take command of the only ship in the world that can save the lives of hundreds of defenseless and endangered whales in the Southern Ocean.”

“I am confident that the Australian people will send their voice to Canberra to support us and the whales. Rudd and Garrett need to be reminded that it was not the Japanese whalers who voted them into power, it was Australian citizens, and Australians want the bloody slaughter in the Southern Ocean ended.”

NYLHV is a non-profit organization which works to pass animal protection laws, elect humane candidates to office, educate the public on matters of public policy, and hold politicians accountable to their constituents.

The evening will include a cocktail hour, vegan dinner, presentation and silent auction and include guests like New York State Governor David A. Paterson, ”Whale Wars” star Captain Paul Watson, actress and author Ally Sheedy, world-renowned ‘60’s artist Peter Max, “Super Size Me” co-star and author Alex Jamieson, ”Bizarro” comic creator Dan Piraro, CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell, and rapper  Princess Superstar. Along with myself, fellow bloggers Chloe Jo Berman from GirlieGirlArmy and Joshua Katcher from The Discerning Brute will also be in attendance.

The event will be held on Thursday, November 12, at 6 p.m. at the Prince George Ballroom in New York City. Tickets are $100 and only a handful remain. To reserve your seats visit NYLHV.org! See you there!

Still thinking about PETA’s Save The Whales billboard? Love watching Whale Wars every Friday night? Then run to see At The Edge of The World and learn about the Sea Shepherd Society’s Third Antarctic Campaign.

Perhaps the most interesting difference between the documentary and the television series is the grittiness of the expedition. The jobs of the 46 volunteers appear even more dangerous, difficult, and demanding on the big screen. I don’t want to include any spoilers, but I’ll just say that there was some serious risky business going on!

Also, the strained relationship between the Sea Shepard and Greenpeace was made extremely apparent. An original member of Greenpeace, Captain Paul Watson left in 1977 (he has since called them “the Avon ladies of the environmental movement”), saying he believes in a campaign of intervention and not one of simply bearing witness. More than once, the Sea Shepherd tries to get Greenpeace in on the action…with no luck.

Opening weekend at Cinema Village in New York City included a special treat of a Q & A with director Dan Stone and cinematographer Tim Gorski. Stone claimed he doesn’t like “message movies” but it’s hard to miss the message in this one. To quote visionary Albert Einstein: “Thought without action is a crime.”

[Monica McCarthy is a frequent contributer to Ecorazzi.com and VEGdaily.com. She is also the founder of BeeGoodNow. Monica lives in New York City.]

Paul Watson, the famed captain of the Sea Shepherd Society, recently sat down with Treehugger Radio and gave a really great interview. We encourage you to hit the entire conversation here, but below are some highlights:

How the public’s reactions to Sea Shepherd’s actions affect the group:

“Well, we’re really not too concerned about what people think about us because our clients happen to be whales and sharks and sea turtles and fish. So you know, we do what we do, and people either like it, or they don’t like it. They either like it passionately or they dislike us intensely. What we do out there is simply go out and intervene against illegal activities. We aren’t a protest group. What we are is an interventionist group. And we’ve never hurt anybody, but we’re quite aggressive.”

On the legality (or lack thereof) of the Japanese whale hunts:

“The Japanese say that they kill whales for scientific research, but nobody buys that argument. In fact, last month, New Scientist magazine rejected their science, saying that it had no validity. It’s all a commercial meat market—it’s all for sushi restaurants in Japan. A very small percentage of Japanese people eat it, but that’s enough to have a market. It brings in, if they’re successful, about $250-300 million a year. And we’ve managed to negate those profits for the last three years.”

On Sea Shepherd being labeled a “terrorist group” by some:

“We’re an extremely non-violent organization—33 years without causing a single injury, without sustaining any injuries, without being convicted of a crime. We’re not terrorists, we’re not criminals. Those are just labels. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether you’re saving whales or running for President of the United States these days, if people don’t like you they’re going to call you a terrorist. It’s become the most favored catch phrase of all time.”

For the full two-page interview, jump here.

When we first heard the rumors that Sea Shepherd might acquire add the sleek, biodiesel-fueled powerboat called Earthrace to their efforts — we wanted to believe. But seriously, would it be possible? Could an anti-whaling organization land something out of a James Bond movie to further their cause?

Yes.

Outside the International Whaling Commission meeting in Portugal, Sea Shepherd announced plans for their sixth campaign against Japanese commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary – Operation Waltzing Matilda. They also revealed the incredible news that the Earthrace will be joining the SS Steve Irwin in this new operation. And yes, it will change from its current silver to the Sea Shepherd’s striking black.

“It looks like a spaceship. It can do 40 knots and dive under waves completely. We’ll be using it to intercept and block harpoons,” said Captain Paul Watson, who earlier this week was arrested (And later released) after entering Portugal. He added that the organization was outfitting the vessel with half a tonne of Kevlar to toughen it against the ice. “It has the endurance to go half way round the world on a tank of fuel,” he said. “They won’t get away from me.”

The Steve Irwin will also be receiving some love in the form of $500,000 in repairs and additions. Its buckled hull plates have been repaired (after clashes earlier this year with the Japanese), and  a powerful water cannon has been added on the bow to match the whalers’.

Finally, the organization confirmed that the Animal Planet television crew will be back to film season three of the popular show Whale Wars. “We are taking the most powerful anti-whaling weapon at our disposal: a film crew,” said Laurens de Groot, a Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director. “The cameras are more powerful than cannons and our ammunition is the naked truth about illegal whaling. We intend to keep the focus on Japanese crimes and we intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet – economically.”

via IndyBay and The Brisbane Times

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson received an unexpected surprise upon visiting Portugal this week for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Conference: he was arrested.

According to news agencies, a 30-year-old warrant had been issued against Paul Watson for the 1980 ramming by Sea Shepherd of the pirate whaling ship the Sierra. The Australian director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Jeff Hansen, told ABC News that Mr. Watson was released after four hours of questioning. “Paul had lengthy discussions with the police in northern Portugal and they determined that the warrant had actually expired in 2008 so there was no valid reason for them to hold him,” he said.

Sea Shepherd’s most public campaign to date has been their annual pursuit of the Japanese Whaling fleet, as documented in Animal Planet’s Whale Wars series. Watson said he was surprised by Portugal’s move to arrest him — especially since he’s visited the country time and time again with no problems. “But it was like last year in Chile, I was hassled a bit…,” he said. “Chileans told me it was because Japan had put in a complaint and they wanted to question me about what I was doing at the International Whaling Commission meeting. So I’m not really quite sure if Japan was behind this.”

Thanks to Cid for the tip!