Sea Shepherd’s latest donor Sam Simon posing with Captain Paul Watson.
A spiffy Razzle Dazzle paint scheme is not the only thing new over at Sea Shepherd, the controversial anti-whaling organization run by maritime fugitive Paul Watson.
The organization also has a new ship, the M/V Sam Simon, named for the donor of the vessel. Simon is better known as co-creator of America’s favorite cartoon family, The Simpsons.
Details about the new ship remain classified according to Watson, but we do know it was formerly owned by the German government (possibly an icebreaker) which is ironic considering the Germans arrested Watson earlier this year.
Season 5 of Whale Wars, the hit show featuring the antics of Sea Shepherd, showed a marked increase in hostility between the Shepherds and the Japanese whalers they are targeting.
Information Dissemination, a leading blog about Navy strategy, warns against the recent militarization of environmental NGO’s. In a recent post they tell us:
These developments appear to reflect the growing militarization in language, tactics, and equipment, of maritime eco-activists. By my count — with Greenpeace, SSCS, and Earthrace — three maritime conservation organizations are now involved with direct action. In spite of their well-intentioned motivations, one of the many features these groups have in common with terrorist groups is that they adapt and often splinter-off from each other. To wit, SSCS founder Paul Watson broke off from Greenpeace as he felt they weren’t aggressive enough and now Bethune is taking Oceanrace in his own direction. The line between these conservation organizations and non-state maritime actors with more malign intentions will likely continue to blur.
The announcement follows the donation of a ship by game show host Bob Barker and a long list of celebrity endorsements of the organizations controversial tactics leading to the question: Is hollywood ending its long support of peace initiatives in support of a military buildup on the high seas?
An environmental terrorist is still a terrorist. Target the cause. Which is the arrogant Japanese appetite for Whale meat. A Japanese fishing Master in Alaska once told me that it would be a very great honor as a Japanese to be the one who ate the last bit of the last whale on Earth.
lock em up. We made a special law just for them, the NDAA. Send them to GitMo.
smh
How do Capt Watson and his watch officers keep their credentials ? I’ve only seen a couple of their episodes but there is more than ample proof that he routinely violates the Colregs and exhibits callous disregard for life and property at Sea. He should lose whatever License he holds and prosecuted for his dangerous antics.
Incredible chutzpah to talk about the militarization of ecological NGO's, considering the WAR going on to grab the last drops of fossil fuel. See Spratley Islands, Arctic waters, melting ice caps, poisoned everything.
My family had to evacuate our home YESTERDAY when Chevron Richmond refinery delayed shutting down a 4:30 pm diesel leak in the #4 crude processor for two hours, and was rewarded with a massive explosion and fire that darkened the skies over the whole East Bay of San Francisco.
Just google "Richmond Chevron" to see why militarization of NGO's is a rational response to corporate madness.
gCaptain should be ashamed of the tone of this article@.
I support Watson. Bottom line is he's getting the job done. Those whalers won't be back in a few more years.
What I have seen on Whale Wars is appalling behaviour from both the NGO and the Japanese both show a total disregard of the International Maritime Regulations, poor seamanship and bad general behaviour. The community expects more from the professional mariner. I find it hard to believe that any of them could a licensed master as both sides have placed their vessels and crew in grave and imminent danger, both sides have failed to avoid collisions at sea, both should be prosecuted before someone is injured or killed.
I don’t believe that dressing up slaughter to harvest meat as scientific research is legal but neither is breaking the IMO regs. We should not be killing the animal with the largest brain on the plant for a tasty snack that we don’t have to eat especially when it is endangered. As for the culture I come from an Australian Aboriginal background my people have eaten whale for a millennium and Australia has had a history of whaling going back to the first fleet but has stopped now as there is no need to whale so why continue. Our culture demands that we only take what is needed so there will always be more. Both sides need to do the right thing.
you obviously don’t see the BIGGER PICTURE. You are probably the one clubbing seals. Open your eyes. He is saving the environment. Open your eyes – if he doesn’t we won’t have anything left. You can’t eat money. Open your eyes and thank his efforts instead.