Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society
The Most Aggressive, Determined, Active and Effective Defender of Marine Wildlife in the World Today
Founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has over a quarter of a century of
experience in opposing illegal whaling, sealing and fishing operations, and has established itself as the leading marine
direct action group in the world. Sea Shepherd accomplishes its mission through investigation, documentation and
enforcement of violations of the international treaties, laws and conventions designed to protect the oceans. Sea
Shepherd exposes these violations (often via the media) to educate the public and bring international pressure to bear on
those responsible to stop these illegal, cruel acts.
Our conservation patrols, led today by the R/V Farley Mowat, (a 50-meter ice-strengthened conservation research
vessel), and the Sirenian, (a 32-meter fast patrol vessel), have been active on the high seas since 1979. Our
achievements – successes that have brought unparalleled international attention to the continuing plight of the whales and
marine wildlife – are many.
Our History
In 1982, Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson was invited to Japan to discuss the Iki Island dolphin slaughter with the
local fishermen's cooperative. We were able to successfully negotiate an end to the slaughter. From 1987 to 1992, the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society exposed, documented, and seized illegal destructive driftnets in the Eastern Tropical,
North, and South Pacific, and sent the evidence directly to the United Nations as support for U.N. Resolution 46/215
banning high seas driftnetting. In 1993, we chased off a 10-trawler foreign fleet that was overfishing threatened stocks of
redfish and cod just off the Grand Banks of Atlantic Canada. (The seizure and confiscation of foreign trawlers off the
Grand Banks has since become Canadian government policy.) Two years later, off Canada’s Pacific coast, our Coho
salmon conservation campaign demonstrated that the disappearance of several species of salmon was imminent unless
drastic restrictions were imposed. In 1998, Canada closed the west coast Coho salmon fishery. In 1994, while defending
Minke whales off the coast of Norway, the unarmed Sea Shepherd conservation vessel Whales Forever was depthcharged, rammed and fired on by the Norwegian Coast Guard to keep it away from their illegal whaling operations. Sea
Shepherd actively enforces the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban on commercial whaling because the IWC
has no enforcement arm to insure its regulations are upheld.
Conservation in Action
Sea Shepherd volunteers have slept among Grey seals on the “Irish Islands” to protect them from hunters, and escorted a
BBC documentary film crew to the site of the Faeroe Islands Pilot whale sport hunt, where we successfully drove several
pods of long-finned Pilot whales away from the hunters' knives. In 1981, we landed on Soviet beaches at the height of the
Cold War and were the first to expose illegal slaughter of endangered California Gray whales for fox fur farms, bringing
back the evidence for presentation to the 1982 IWC meeting. Our 1997 Siberian Gray Whale Campaign revealed the
grisly truth of the excessive slaughter of Grays and Bowheads 16 years later.
We disclosed to the world the truth of the price of a tuna fish sandwich when we released the very first footage of dolphins
being killed by the San Diego tuna fleet. Our seal protection campaigns throughout the 1980’s shut down the Canadian
seal hunt in 1985. When it was resurrected in 1994, we presented the non-lethal, cruelty-free alternative of seal-brushing,
a pilot program which could benefit the local population economically without a single seal being killed. We have mobilized
public opposition to the Gray whale hunt by the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington. Sea Shepherd patrols have
arrested and shut down numerous shark-poaching operations off Costa Rica’s offshore Cocos Island National Park
between 1992 and the present.
We have accomplished all of this — and much, much more — by working entirely within the law. We do not commit
crimes and we do not support the use of criminal tactics in our activities. We specialize in intervention against illegal
activities that exploit marine wildlife in international waters, where we are empowered to intervene in accordance with the
United Nations World Charter for Nature.
Conservation Today
Sure, it sounds dangerous. And sometimes it is. But, just as you would intervene if you saw someone beating an innocent
dog, we at Sea Shepherd sometimes put ourselves in harm’s way to enforce laws where no enforcement body exists. We
have to.
Your support will help Sea Shepherd continue its fight. Below are just a few of our current projects – testament to
how well your support will work to make a better world:
Direct Action the World. In Brazil, we are
working to rescue marine wildlife from oil
spills and shut down illegal fishing
operations off the coast. In Singapore, Sea
Shepherd is leading the fight to oppose
the sale of shark fins in Asian markets. In
Europe, we continue to battle the Faeroes
whale slaughter and illegal fishing
operations in the North Sea.
And in the waters off Taiji, Japan, we are
fighting — and we will never stop fighting
— to bring an end to the unspeakable
cruelty associated with the horrific and
totally unnecessary killing of innocent
dolphins.
Operation Fertile Ground. Our sister
organization in Canada, called
ORCAForce, is gearing up to deploy large
steel and concrete “net-rippers” aboard
our ship, R/V Farley Mowat, and drop
them on trawling grounds to allow for
habitat re-growth. Three decades of heavy
gear bottom dragging by commercial
fishermen has literally destroyed the sea
bottoms. Once Operation Fertile Ground is
under way, any attempt to trawl will be met
with a severe economic penalty in the form
of massive gear damage. This single
project could help restore the damaged
cod habitat of the Newfoundland Grand
Banks.
Project Ahab. For almost 30 years Sea
Shepherd has led the charge against
illegal whaling. In 1979, we rammed and
disabled the notorious pirate whaler,
Sierra. In 1980, we shut down half the
Spanish whaling fleet. In 1986, we shut
down Icelandic whaling (which today is
sadly on the rebound). In 1998 and 1999,
we led the fight to stop the so-called
“aboriginal” whale hunt by the Makah tribe
in the State of Washington. In 2002, we
sailed to Antarctica to confront Japanese
whalers. Today, Sea Shepherd is
considered the primary threat to the profitmaking machine of the Norwegian whaling
industry.
Shepherds of the Seals. Over the past
quarter-century Sea Shepherd has saved
hundreds of thousands of seals from
slaughter. We shut down the Gray seal
hunt in the Scottish Orkney Islands and
are considered to be the most aggressive
threat to Canadian sealers by the
Canadian government and the Canadian
Sealing Association. This is a fight from
which we will never retreat – not until we
end the senseless slaughter of baby seals.
Operation Treasured Islands. At this
very moment our fast patrol vessel,
Sirenian, is working hand-in-hand with
park rangers to patrol the waters off the
Galapagos National Park (Equador) and
Cocos Island National Park (Costa Rica).
So far our interventions have resulted in
the arrest of over three-dozen poaching
vessels and disruption of numerous other
poaching operations.
Of course, Sea Shepherd is involved in
much, much more. We have confiscated
hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles, of
illegal driftnet and longlines (with their
vicious hooks) from the world’s oceans —
and released thousands of sharks, sea
turtles, seabirds and fish. The assault on
the oceans has been escalating and
because of that Sea Shepherd is even
more committed to protecting the citizens
of the oceans for as long as necessary.
Our volunteers are our lifeblood. They assist in all areas of operations – from the office, in the field,
and on our conservation vessels. Sea Shepherd ships are crewed by volunteers who engage in expeditions armed with
cameras and video tape to document any illegal exploitation of marine wildlife and participate in citizen action to protect
endangered and depleted species. Our office crews around the world enable us to keep operations flowing
and assist with the ship campaigns. If you would like to volunteer, please contact our office.
When you join the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, you become part of a unique organization
that believes and proves individuals can still make a difference. Around the globe, across the high seas,
literally 24-hours a day Sea Shepherd stands on the front line protecting the defenseless.
Your support directly funds our conservation vessels and critical marine wildlife protection programs.
Please detach here – fold and return in an envelope. Thank You.
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Mail To: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | PO Box 2616 | Friday Harbor, WA 98250 | USA
Tel: 360-370-5650 Fax: 360-370-5651 | Email: info@seashepherd.org | www.seashepherd.org
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