" ... in a bizarre development, a founding member of Greenpeace has embraced the tactics of the French secret service. Canadian Paul Watson is a sinker of ships.
Captain Watson left Greenpeace in 1977 and formed the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society -- a vigilante environmentalist group that has sunk 10 ships since 1979. Sea Shepherd's actions have split the green movement between those advocating direct action and those espousing persuasion and engagement.
Battling whalers in the Southern Ocean, the crew of Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin yesterday welcomed the return of two fellow crew members from a Japanese whaler where they had been held since Wednesday, and where they attracted worldwide attention since boarding the Yushin Maru No2 in what many experts say was a breach of international maritime law.
Mr Watson is now pondering the next phase of his campaign.
Ship sinking was warranted in the battle to halt whaling, said Sea Shepherd executive director Kim McCoy.
Speaking from on board the Steve Irwin, Ms McCoy said the group had never hurt anyone.
"They were all sunk when nobody was on board," she said via satellite phone.
"All precautions were taken not to take life. No one has ever been injured in our 30-year history. But we have no problem in destroying property, the instruments of death."
Sea Shepherd has scuttled ships in Norway, Iceland, South Africa, Spain and Portugal as part of its unrelenting battle against whaling.
Ms McCoy confirmed that another of the Sea Shepherd ships, the Farley Mowat, had a reinforced hull to give it the capacity to ram whalers.
"Anybody who criticises what we do here, I would encourage them to encourage their governments to come out and enforce their laws," she said.
"We are in a whale sanctuary, it's designated as a whale sanctuary, and they are hunting whales."
[ ... ]
The reasons why Mr Watson left Greenpeace in 1977 are explained on the Sea Shepherd website.
"Paul left Greenpeace because he felt the original goals of the organisation were being compromised, and because he saw a global need to continue direct action conservation activities on the high seas by an organisation that would enforce laws protecting marine wildlife," the website says.
Australian Greens senator Kerry Nettle said she supported the actions of Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean. "People are trying to achieve the same thing using different tactics," she said. "The support for Sea Shepherd in the community is very strong, particularly at the moment." ... "
~ From Sinker of ships once a rainbow warrior ~
1 comment:
Watson has one problem with his justification for sinking property.
Ships have crew. Where do they go when the ship sinks? An iceberg?
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