Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington in the United States. The group uses direct action tactics to protect marine life. The organization was founded in 1977 under the name Earth Force Society by Paul Watson, a former member of Greenpeace, after a dispute with that organization over what Watson saw as its lack of more aggressive intervention. The group has a strong focus on public relations to spread their message via the media. In 2008, Animal Planet began filming the weekly series Whale Wars based on the group's encounters with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, a development which brought the group much publicity.
Sea Shepherd currently operates the vessels MY Steve Irwin, the MY Bob Barker, and the , and most of the group's recent activities take place in international waters. Operations have included scuttling and disabling whaling vessels at harbor, intervening in Canadian and Namibian seal hunts, shining laser light into the eyes of whalers, throwing bottles of foul-smelling butyric acid onto vessels at sea, boarding of whaling vessels while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. Sea Shepherd claims that their aggressive actions are necessary as the international community has shown itself unwilling or unable to stop species-endangering whaling and fishing practices.
Sea Shepherd has received support for its tactics against fishing, whaling, and seal hunting from quarters such as media personalities, while their violent tactics are sometimes opposed even by those who denounce whaling, such as Greenpeace and the governments of Australia and New Zealand. Officials of the American, Canadian, and Japanese governments, as well as the Institute of Cetacean Research of Japan, have referred to them as terrorists. 
==History==
The predecessor organization of Sea Shepherd, the "Earth Force Society", was formed in 1977, after its founder, Paul Watson was ousted from the board of Greenpeace for disagreements over his direct action activism which clashed with their pacifist ethos. Watson soon left Greenpeace. Initially without funding and with only a small group of supporters, in 1978 Watson managed to convince Cleveland Amory, head of the British Fund for Animals to fund Watson's first vessel, the Sea Shepherd.
The first direct action undertaken by Sea Shepherd was against Canadian seal hunting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March 1979. Also in 1979, the group made headlines when they rammed a whaling vessel for the first time. It was the notorious pirate whaling vessel Sierra. Such acts continued with Sea Shepherd claiming responsibility for damaging or sinking multiple whaling vessels through sabotage or ramming. The group has attempted to intervene against Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Makah, Faroese, and Japanese whalers in multiple campaigns around the globe. Setting a pattern that the group would keep up in later years, the group managed to scuttle a Portuguese whaling vessel, though the first Sea Shepherd was impounded and lost. Watson says that he used the money gained from selling the story rights to fund his next vessel.
After having spent the 1980s undertaking a variety of controversial and dangerous operations in support of various marine conservation aims, in the 1990s the group has been described as having undertaken a shift in their public attitude. Having previously argued primarily from an ethical viewpoint, from the 1990s, Watson's group now also started ascribing themselves law enforcement powers, using its interpretation of maritime and conservation law, to describe themselves as an anti-poaching agency. In some cases in the 2000s, they cooperated with official government efforts against maritime poaching, such as in Costa Rican waters, though the agreements often did not last long before conflict ensued.
Starting in September 2010, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has positioned a crew in Taiji, Japan to monitor and report their annual dolphin drive hunt.
==Organization==
Sea Shepherd is a non-government environmental organization and in the United States has a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. 83.2% of the organization's revenue is spent on its programs, while 16.7% of revenue is spent on administrative and fundraising costs. Sea Shepherd is supported by private and corporate donations, lectures by Paul Watson, Internet advertising, and grants. The group is operated by volunteers and a small paid staff. Watson says he is committed to keeping his organization small, and does not believe in spending money on fund-raising or recruitment.
Sea Shepherd is governed by a board of directors. Currently, there are seven directors, including Watson. The organization has several boards of advisers, each addressing a particular area of expertise. These are the Scientific, Technical, and Conservation Advisory Board, which has 13 members including Earth First! founder Dave Foreman and Horst Klienschmidt, a former (2006) Deputy Chair of the International Whaling Commission; the Financial and Management Advisory Board, with three members; the Legal and Law Enforcement Advisory Board, with four members including Ian Campbell, a former Australian Minister of the Environment and Heritage (2004–07) whom whaling groups had previously accused of having inappropriate and close ties with the organization; the Animal Welfare, Humane and Animal Rights Advisory Board, with seven members including animal rights philosopher Tom Regan; the Media and Arts Advisory Board, with 15 members including Sean Penn and Martin Sheen; and a Photography Advisory Board with two members. 
==Activism==
Sea Shepherd engages in conventional protests and direct actions to protect marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd operations have included interdiction against commercial fishing, shark poaching and finning, seal hunting, and whaling. The group has been active in intervening against fishing and poaching in the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, and in waters around the Galapagos Islands.
According to its mission statement, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society "uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas". Those actions have included scuttling and disabling commercial whaling vessels at harbor, ramming other vessels, throwing glass bottles of butyric acid on the decks of vessels at sea, boarding of whaling vessels while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. As of 2009, Paul Watson has said that the organization has sunk ten whaling ships while also destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment. Their practice of attacking and sinking other ships has led to reports of injuries to other sailors as well as the Sea Shepherd crew, including concussions and complications from chemical attacks.
Watson considers the actions of Sea Shepherd to be against criminal operations and has called the group an anti-poaching organization. Critics claim that Sea Shepherd's actions constitute violations of international law, while Watson has stated that Sea Shepherd believes that their actions constitute an attempt to enforce international conservation laws and international maritime law under the World Charter for Nature adopted by the United Nations . Australia has declared Japan's hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to be illegal, and federal court judge Jim Allsop has stated "there is no practical mechanism by which orders of this court can be enforced." The lack of official enforcement mechanisms in that law prompted the Society to adopt, without official sanction, what it sees as a law enforcement mission. A 2008 academic paper by researchers at Monash University concluded that the group "may be best categorized as a vigilante group, because they say they are seeking to enforce a legal status quo because of states' and the international community's inabilities or unwillingness to do so."
Watson left Greenpeace in 1977 after being expelled from the board of directors due to his confrontational methods. Since then, Greenpeace has criticized Sea Shepherd for the group's tactics, particularly regarding its interaction with whaling ships while at sea. The rival environmental group maintains Sea Shepherd is a violent organization whose tactics may endanger the lives of fishermen and whalers. Greenpeace has called Watson a violent extremist and will no longer comment on his activities. Greenpeace is also critical of the group on its website and state: "By making it easy to paint anti-whaling forces as dangerous, piratical terrorists, Sea Shepherd could undermine the forces within Japan which could actually bring whaling to an end". Both groups protest the Japanese whale hunts in the Southern Ocean but Greenpeace has a policy to not assist Sea Shepherd in finding the whalers. In his 2009 book, Whaling in Japan, Jun Morikawa states that Sea Shepherd's confrontational tactics have actually strengthened Japan's resolve to continue with its whaling program. According to Morikawa, Sea Shepherd's activities against Japan's whaling ships have allowed the Japanese government to rally domestic support for the program from Japanese who were otherwise ambivalent about the practice of hunting and eating whales.Kingston, Jeff, "Whaling whoppers debunked", The Japan Times, April 25, 2010, p. 11.
Sea Shepherd has been criticized and sometimes physically attacked by people in several of the countries they protest against. In November 1988, Makah seized an inflatable boat belonging to the group and threw rocks at the Sea Shepherd's Sirenian in response to protests over their whale hunt. In March 1995, a mob of Canadian seal hunters stormed the hotel where members were staying. They fled while the mob ransacked their room. In 2005, 11 Sea Shepherd crew were involved in an altercation with sealers while on the ice. The sealers were not charged with any crime, but the activists were arrested and later convicted for approaching too close to the hunt. In 2008, fishermen in the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon cut the mooring lines of the Farley Mowat after hearing Watson make disparaging comments about the deaths of four seal hunters. In February 2010, pro-whaling demonstrators gathered outside the Australian Embassy in Tokyo to protest the group. A political activist said that Sea Shepherd's actions were "absolutely racial discrimination against Japanese people." In response, Sea Shepherd stated that they also oppose whaling in the Faroe Islands, sealing in Canada, etc. In response to the events of the sinking of the Ady Gil in January 2010, Glenn Inwood, whose firm handles public relations on behalf of the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research accused Sea Shepherd of being "hostile eco-terrorists".
==Public relations==
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has received attention from the press and been called "media savvy". The group has worked with journalists and has made statements through press releases to spread its message during various campaigns.
Watson's public relations savvy is shown in an episode of Whale Wars when he creates an international "media storm" after two crewmembers are detained on a Japanese whaling vessel. In his book, Earthforce!, Watson advises readers to make up facts and figures when they need to, and to deliver them to reporters confidently. He also states that the "truth is irrelevant" due to the nature of mass media.Paul Watson. 1993. Earthforce! An Earth Warrior’s Guide to Strategy. La Caňada, CA: Chaco Press, p. 42. In response to criticism that he manipulates the media, Watson has stated: "What we do is provide the media with the kind of stories they can't resist... and this is how we bring attention to what's happening to the whales, the seals, the sharks and the other marine conservation campaigns we're involved in."
Sea Shepherd has also used satellite uplinks, webcams, and internet blogging during its operations in the Southern Ocean, and has invited the media to ride along.The Australian Accessed 090810 In 2006, representatives from Seven network and National Geographic magazine, along with documentary filmmakers, accompanied the group. In a television series entitled Whale Wars, Discovery Communications, Inc. documented Sea Shepherd's 2008-2009 Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers, following events on the Steve Irwin. The program premiered on November 7, 2008, on Discovery's Animal Planet network.
Sea Shepherd has received financial contributions from celebrities and businessmen such as entrepreneur Steve Wynn, television personality Bob Barker, and John Paul DeJoria, as well as other celebrities. Martin Sheen, Darryl Hannah, and Richard Dean Anderson have joined the group during protests. Actors including Edward Norton, Pierce Brosnan, Christian Bale, and Emily Deschanel have supported the group through contributions, while William Shatner has also been mentioned as supporting the group. In 2007, actor Heath Ledger conceived and directed a music video of the Modest Mouse song "King Rat", intended to raise awareness of the whale hunts taking place each year off the coast of his native Australia. Although Ledger died before the video could be completed, others finished it in his honor and debuted the video online in August 2009. Proceeds from iTunes sales of the video in its first month of release were donated to Sea Shepherd. 
From the music industry, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leona Lewis, Rick Rubin, and the groups The Red Paintings and Gojira have financially supported Sea Shepherd. In 2009, professional surfer Kelly Slater joined a Quiksilver Australia/Sea Shepherd partnership featuring a fund-raising clothing line, including board shorts designed by Slater.
The Lush cosmetics company joined with Sea Shepherd to raise awareness about the practice of shark finning in 2008. Lush produced 'Shark Fin Soap' (punning on 'shark fin soup'); all sale proceeds were directed to Sea Shepherd. To launch the soap and awareness campaign a performance artist suspended herself, using hooks in her flesh, in a Lush shopfront window in London.
==Governmental response==
In testimony on "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism" given to the a US congressional subcommittee in 2002, Sea Shepherd was the first group mentioned by an FBI official for having attacked commercial fishing operations by cutting drift nets. An earlier Canadian intelligence report on "single issue terrorism" stated that "Watson and his supporters have been involved in a number of militant actions against whale hunting, driftnet fishing, seal hunting and other related issues" and mentions "activities against logging operations in Canada". In 2007, Ian Campbell, then the Australian Environment Minister and a vigorous critic of Japan's whaling, once opposed to Sea Shepherd's tactics, saying that it really put the cause of conservation backwards. Due to the 2008 operations against Canadian seal hunters, Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, called Watson a terrorist and said that Sea Shepherd was not welcome in the province. The group has been accused of eco-terrorism by the Japanese government.
Sea Shepherd has based many of its operations out of Australia with foreign crew members being able to travel in and out of the country on tourist visas. Tasmanian Greens and the Greens Senator Bob Brown, have endorsed and supported the Society in various ways, including advocacy within the Australian government and public endorsement of the group. However, Nationals Party Senator Barnaby Joyce has opposed granting Sea Shepherd tax-exempt status stating that "Criminals should not get tax concessions - if you break the law, then donations to your organisation should not be tax deductible".
When the Steve Irwin returned to Hobart in February 2009, Australian Federal Police seized film footage and the ship's logs, reportedly prompted by complaints from Japan. Brown demanded that the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, order their immediate return, but a spokesman for the Home Affairs Minister said it was a federal police matter.
In October 2009, The Australian Immigration Department ruled that Watson and his First Officer, Peter Hammarstedt, must satisfy new good-character requirements to obtain business visas, requiring them to provide police references from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway. Watson criticized what he considered a submission to Japanese pressure by the Rudd government. The Australian government responded by rejecting the idea that it was in some way delaying Watson, and on October 20, 2009 issued visas to Watson and Hammarstedt.
Paul Watson said to Discovery Channel the Dalai Lama sent a letter of support for Sea Shepherd's volunteers accompanied by a wrathful, scowling statue of the deity Hayagriva, which expresses compassion and determination in overcoming obstacles. In 2010 during a visit to Japan, the Dalai Lama said that while he agrees with the goal of stopping Japan from hunting whales, they should stop using violent methods to achieve that goal.
The ships of the fleet have flown the flags of different nations and the opinion of several governments that the vessels are engaged in inappropriate activities has several times led to registration issues for Sea Shepherd vessels.Sea Shepherd kom med norsk flagg - Norsk rikskringkasting AS, published 2010-01-08. (Norwegian) Canada, Belize, UK and Togo have revoked the registrations of various vessels.Britain to deregister anti-whaler after Japan pipes up, The Age, January 30, 2007 Both the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker ships now sail under Dutch flag leading to direct complaints by the Japanese government towards Dutch ambassadors. The Netherlands consequently considered revoking the registrations for both vessels but finally decided not to do so.
Officials in Japan have discussed revoking the group's tax exempt status with their counterparts in the United States.
In December 2011, the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd, the two Japanese organizations which operate Japan's whaling program, sued Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) in U.S. federal district court in Seattle. The suit requested an injunction to stop Sea Shepherd's operations against Japanese whalers. The suit was filed in Seattle because Sea Shepherd is based in the state of Washington. The federal court denied the ICR's preliminary injunction against SSCS. 
In March 2012, reacting to Paul Watson's allegation that Maltese politicians were bribed by the Bluefin tuna industry, Prime Minister of Malta Lawrence Gonzi announced that the government would initiate libel proceedings against the Sea Shepherd founder. 
In May 2012, Watson was detained by German authorities after he arrived at the Frankfurt Airport based on a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd contends that the other vessel was shark finning in Guatemalen waters. Members of the other involved ship said that Sea Shepherd was trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations. The conflict took place during filming for the documentary Sharkwater. Watson subsequently skipped bail and went into hiding at the end of July.
==Vessels==
Sea Shepherd refer to the ships it has operated as Neptune's Navy. The society operates three ships, the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker, and the Brigitte Bardot, as well as smaller vessels such as RHIBs.
The Steve Irwin was obtained in 2007 and originally called the Robert Hunter. It was renamed in honor of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin. His widow, Terri, gave her support to Sea Shepherd, saying: "Whales have always been in Steve's heart and in 2006 he was investigating the possibility of joining the Sea Shepherd on part of its journey to defend these beautiful animals." The other ship, the 1200 ton Bob Barker, was named after famous television game-show host and animal activist Bob Barker, who made the purchase in Ghana of the retired Norwegian whaling vessel possible with a donation of US$5 million. In February 2010, the Bob Barker collided with the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 3, tearing a gash in the hull of the Bob Barker.Violence Escalates in Southern Ocean Whaling Battle Environment News Service
The group also formerly operated the Farley Mowat (impounded by the Canadian government, with Sea Shepherd having stated that they have no intention of paying the legal fines and berthage fees to recover their now obsolete vessel) and the Ady Gil, formerly known as the Earthrace (sunk after a collision with the Shōnan Maru 2 whaling security vessel in early 2010) as well as a number of earlier vessels.
Sea Shepherd acquired the Ocean 7 Adventurer for its 2010-11 campaign against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic. In November 2010, mayor Brad Pettitt of Fremantle, Western Australia, christened the vessel Gojira with Fremantle as its home town, making this the first Sea Shepherd ship registered in Australia, with an Australian crew. The Gojira was renamed in May 2011 after complaints of copyright infringement by the owners of the "Gojira" copyright.
Recently, the organization acquired non-weaponized drone aircraft to assist in their surveillance of the whaling ships. 
In July 2012 Sam Simon, a co-creator of The Simpsons, was reported to donate money to purchase the fourth vessel, a former German icebreaker. The ship will be named after him and is expected to be operational for the next Antarctic operation.
==Books written by members==
* David B. Morris, Earth Warrior: Overboard with Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1995). ISBN 1-55591-203-6
* Rik Scarce, Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement, second revised ed. (1990; Left Coast Press, 2005), Ch. 6. ISBN 978-1-59874-028-8
* Paul Watson, Earthforce! An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (Los Angeles: Chaco Press, 1993). ISBN 0-9616019-5-7
* Paul Watson, Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994; Key Porter Books, 1996). ISBN 978-1-55013-599-2
* Paul Watson, Seal Wars: Twenty-five Years in the Front Lines with the Harp Seals (2002; Firefly Books, 2003). ISBN 978-1-55297-751-4
==See also==
*Rod Coronado, animal rights activist who has been involved in direct actions with the group
*Alex Pacheco, member of the advisory board who served on the Sea Shepherd
*Peter James Bethune, skipper of the Ady Gil
==References==
==External links==
* Official website
 
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Category:Animal rights movement
Category:Environmental organizations
Category:International environmental organizations
Category:Conservation organisations
Category:Fisheries organizations
Category:Eco-terrorism
Category:Whaling
Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state)
Category:Organizations established in 1977
Category:1977 establishments in the United States