– Watson is a ‘bad captain’. I agree, he puts his charges … mostly youngsters without any idea what they are involved with … into harm’s way. He’s routinely in Antarctic waters where a mishap is 3-5 days from rescue.

– Watson is little different from Greenpeace. Because governments refuse to monitor and confront rogues who cheat, amateurs like Watson are left fill the vacuum.

Real problem is commercial interests running amok. Eating a whale is little different from eating the family dog, it’s simply not justifiable, neither is the ‘fake’ scientific research whaling industry that stands behind it. Similarly unjustifiable is dumping radioactive- or toxic wastes into the ocean, vacuum trawls, long-lines and shark-finning.

Indeed, sea captains make money doing these sorts of things and others besides but money does not justify, it only pays. Crack down on one captain, get ready to crack down on all of them.

Jay Gould could hire half the working class to kill the other half, does the money make the killing right? If there is more to captaincy than not running into anything: there must be a code of ethics that respects the sea and its creatures rather than plunders it.

Maybe that is what’s needed: an international professional code of ethics applicable to behavior in non-national and international waters: breaches would mean loss of license, uninsurable, unwelcome in any port.