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Dear Friend of Sea Shepherd,
Sea
Shepherd is about passion. It is about taking risks and giving time,
money and materials to save lives on the high seas, to defend the
survival of marine species and to protect the integrity of the
biodiversity of our ocean, for if biodiversity is diminished the ocean
is diminished, and if the ocean dies, we die. We cannot survive on this
planet with a dead ocean and the ocean is dying.
Our duty, objective and
responsibility is to prevent any further diminishment of life and
habitat and to take a stand to aggressively and non-violently to make a
difference. You are part of that difference when you support us, and you are part of what will protect the oceans and preserve them for future generations.
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Sea Shepherd Prepares to Defend Largest Humpback Whale Nursery in the World
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We
are launching a new campaign to protect the world's greatest humpback
whale nursery, which is under threat due to gas refinery development!
Operation Kimberley Miinimbi will
commence this Saturday to call the world’s attention to a proposed gas
hub construction in the environmentally sensitive region of James Price
Point in Western Australia.
Former Australian Greens Party
Senator Bob Brown is leading Operation Kimberley Miinimbi on the Steve Irwin, to try to stop this ill-conceived plan before it’s too late. Get the details...
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| Measures to Protect New Zealand’s Maui’s and Hector’s Dolphin Fall Short at IWC |
 This
month’s International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting was ineffective
in establishing much-needed safeguards for the Maui’s and Hector’s
Dolphin species, which have seen steady decline in recent decades,
primarily due to human-induced threats like gill nets and trawling.
The IWC established some so-called
“protections” for these majestic creatures, but the measures are only
temporary and not far-reaching enough. Read about how your actions can effect REAL change for these imperiled species…
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July 20 is “Free Capt. Watson” Global Day of Action & Deadline for Visual Petition Contest
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It’s
time the United States steps up to assist one of its citizens. Captain
Watson has been under German custody for 67 days on the outrageous,
alleged a violation of ship traffic in 2002. German officials have
recently determined Captain Watson will indeed be extradited to an
uncertain fate to the seemingly lawless nation of Costa Rica.
To date, we have received hundreds
of entries to our online Visual Petition Contest answering one of the
questions, “Why is Captain Watson important to our planet?” or “Why does
Sea Shepherd matter to you?” You can see some of those entries below.
The deadline for entries is Friday, July 20 at 5 pm PST to coincide with
our second “Free Captain Paul Watson” Day of Action. Numerous vigils
and protests are planned at German Embassies and Consulates around the
world. If you don’t live near an embassy, gather at local parks and
private homes to support our modern-day hero. Together we will set him
free!
We’ve been focusing all of our
attention on Germany, but now we would like to request that you please write to US government officials to politely ask for their assistance in gaining Captain Watson’s freedom. We have also provided a new sample letter for you. Don't delay!
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Whale Wars Season Finale Friday
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 Be sure to catch the last episode in the 5th season of Whale Wars,
this Friday, July 20th, on Animal Planet. This season has chronicled
our efforts to end whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary during
Operation Divine Wind. Learn more about Whale Wars...
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Handcrafted SSCS Wooden Model Ships
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Proudly display in your home or office one or more of these scaled, handcrafted, wooden models of the Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and the Brigitte Bardot as a tribute to our efforts to save whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
A sure collector’s item for any Sea
Shepherd supporter! These models are only offered for a limited time,
so get yours today before they are gone.
All proceeds from the Sea Shepherd e-Stores support our mission to defend ocean wildlife worldwide!
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There are sacred places in this
world that should not be scarred with the ugliness of greed and
disrespect for nature. Together we are part of a movement to restore
sanity in returning humankind's natural role of living in harmony with
other species and the natural world.
I wish I could join my crew on the
current Operation Requiem campaign and upcoming Operation Kimberley
Miinimbi campaign, but I am being held under house arrest in Germany for
defending sharks off the coast of Guatemala ten years ago, an incident
that has been exploited by Japan and Costa Rica to keep me away from my
ships and crew. As many of my enemies have learned time and again — Sea
Shepherd is more than myself, and I am happy that because of the passion
from people like you we have hundreds of crewmembers in place and
multiple ships gearing up or currently operating in defense of marine
wildlife worldwide. We know evil prevails when good people do nothing. Thank-you for continuing to support our very important work. Your dedication to our mission is making a difference.
For the oceans,
Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President
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Campaign
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Get news straight from the field during our current South Pacific Shark Defense Campaign:
Operation Requiem
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Events
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Show your support in person, and join us at a Sea Shepherd event in one of the following areas:
Worldwide
• Jul 20 - Intl Day of Action
Australia
• Jul 21 - Brisbane
• Jul 22 - Cairns
• Jul 22 - Peregian
• Jul 28 - Brisbane
• Jul 29 - Cairns
• Jul 29 - Peregian
• Aug 4 - Brisbane
• Aug 5 - Cairns
• Aug 5 - Peregian
• Aug 5 - Canberra
Belgium & Netherlands
• Jul 21 - Schuttenbergstraat 2, As
• Jul 21 - Den Haag
• Jul 31 - Brugge
• Aug 10 - Glabbeek
• Aug 10-12 - Leper
• Aug 19 - Meer
Brazil
• Aug - 18-19 - São Paulo
France
• Jul 13-19 - Brest
• Aug 8 Montpellier
• Aug 8 - Couiza
• Aug 9 - Lorient
Germany
• Jul 21 - Iserlohn
• Jul 21 - Hanover
• Jul 28 - Nuremberg
• Aug 2-4 - Waken Open Air
• Aug 10-12 - Dresden
• Aug 17-19 - Berlin
Ireland
• Aug 18 - Kildare
• Aug 23 - Dublin
Italy
• Jul 21 - Forte dei Marmi
• Jul 21 - Arona
North America
• Jul 27-29 - Seattle, WA
• Jul 30 - Denver, CO
• Aug 4 - Dallas, TX
• Aug 4 - Friday Hbr, WA
• Aug 6 - Clarksville, MD
• Aug 11 - Los Angeles, CA
• Aug 15 - Oakland, CA
United Kingdom
• Jul 27 - Surrey
• Aug 16 - Isle of Wight
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Video
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Sea Shepherd Australian
Director Jeff Hansen and former Greens Senator Bob Brown share their
thoughts on Op Kimberley Miinimbi
Watch now!
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Join the DAC
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Our Direct Action Crew
donors are a significant part of what keeps our ships at sea and our
campaigns successful!
Join the DAC with your monthly or quarterly gift and
as a token of our appreciation we'll send you a free Sea Shepherd
Direct Action Crew t-shirt and a discount code for 20% off in our
e-Stores.
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| Remove My Name from Future Mailings | Privacy Policy |
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 USA
(USA) Tel: 360-370-5650 Fax: 360-370-5651
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July 12, 2012
Whaling in Norway
Commentary by Erwin Vermeulen
 The whale-killing ship, Reinefangst - photo: Erwin VermeulenYou
can’t say Spitsbergen is unspoiled. The massacres perpetrated by the
Dutch and other European countries since the 17th century made sure that
even now the once plentiful Bowhead whale is rarely spotted among these
islands in the Arctic. There are beaches here, full of the bleached and
weathered skulls and bones of hundreds of slaughtered belugas, and the
walrus was almost hunted to local extinction. Still it is the scenic
beauty and remaining wildlife that today attracts thousands of tourists
to these snow-covered peaks jutting from the cold waters.
You would think that mankind and especially Norway, that governs these
isles under the geo-political name of Svalbard, would have drawn lessons
from that ignorant, destructive past and that the tourist money would
be an extra incentive to protect all that is left…Not so!
There are still hunting seasons here, still arctic foxes are being trapped for their fur and, yes, the whaling continues.
Therefore, it was hardly a surprise when I sailed into Hornsund in the
South West of Spitsbergen last month, to find in that bay the whale
poachers Ann-Brita and Reinefangst with their murderous harpoons
uncovered. Even though it has been almost two decades since Sea Shepherd
and the Norwegian whale poachers met steel to steel, that does not mean
we do not keep track of what they are up to.
Over the last decade we have seen the number of boats partaking in the
slaughter dwindle to 21 licensed vessels this year. Some are giving up
because of the lack in demand for whale meat; others saw their ships
sunk in their homeports. We witnessed the struggle of the poachers to
fill the quotas, variously blaming fuel costs, bad weather and distance
to the whaling grounds for their failures. Still Norway has killed
almost 10.000 whales since the moratorium came into effect in 1986.
Although Norway is a member of the IWC, it does not abide by that body’s
decisions. In 1982, it filed a formal objection against the proposed
ban on commercial whaling. The insane rules of this ineffective and
corrupt organization basically say that if you don’t like their rulings,
you can object and just on the basis of that objection you are not
bound by these rulings. Norway has also exempted itself from the trade
bans imposed by another ineffective and corrupt organization, namely
CITES, and exports whale meat to Japan.
Norway tried their hand at Japanese-style, scientific whaling for a
brief period before returning in 1993 to overtly commercial whaling.
They peaked in 2005 with 639 whales and last year took the lives of 533
animals. The Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal affairs has set
the quota for the 2012 season that lasts from May 1st to August 30th,
again at 1286 Minke whales.
Besides ignoring the moratorium on commercial whaling, Norway sets much
higher catch limits than even the IWC’s ‘scientific’ calculations (A
system ominously called Revised Management Procedure (RMP)) allow for.
On top of that, Norway has allowed catches to be concentrated in areas
most convenient for the poachers, especially the area West of
Spitsbergen. Still the poachers fail to meet even half of their quota.
So to placate them even further and in complete disregard for the fate
of the whales the government has this year merged two separate whaling
zones to make it more cost-effective for the poachers to concentrate
their killing business on the waters around Spitsbergen.
The whaling apologists in the Norwegian government have thus made a
joke of the already much prostituted word ‘sustainability’. Of course,
if that cliché doesn’t hold up there are always other excuses, like
blaming whales for eating the fishermen’s fish. Haven’t we heard similar
cries from the Japanese whaling industry, from the seal and sea lion
clubbers in Newfoundland and Namibia, from the dolphin killers in Taiji,
from the fishery agencies in Chile and from the officials at the
Bonneville dam, to draw the attention away from the real problem:
overfishing by man?
Just as preposterous are the tiresome, old arguments of tradition and
culture, used around the world to justify brutality and cruelty and to
repeat, over and over again, the mistakes of the past. One official even
claimed that Norwegian whaling could be considered aboriginal. Nothing
on the diesel-powered, steel ships, full of modern,
electronic equipment and with explosive-grenade harpoons on their bow
that I met in these waters, struck me as aboriginal or traditional.
As everywhere where senseless slaughter takes place, you can smell the
greed, the stubbornness, the misplaced national pride and the willful
ignorance. It should not be tolerated in the Europe of today.
 The whale-killing ship, Ann-Brita
photo: Erwin Vermeulen |
 Explosive tip harpoon on the bow of the Ann-Brita - photo: Erwin Vermeulen |
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Connect with other BioGems Defenders and get the latest campaign updates on Facebook.
A BIG thank you to BioGems Defenders who recently sent more than 48,000 letters to keep oil and gas drilling out of Colorado's Baca National Wildlife Refuge.
Earlier this month, government agents hazed and captured over 500 buffalo near the border of Yellowstone National Park. The captured buffalo are being held in captivity indefinitely, and those that test positive for exposure to brucellosis may ultimately be slaughtered. Yellowstone's wild bison, the only continuously wild population that remains in the United States, frequently wander outside the park in search of food during the harsh winter months. With the population estimated to have grown to around 3,900 animals since their massive slaughter in 2008, they are generally not welcome in Montana due to fears they will transmit brucellosis to domestic cattle. The risk of transmission, however, is tiny. In fact, there has never been a documented case of brucellosis transmission from buffalo to cattle in the wild. And, today, there is less reason than ever to kill buffalo because, among other changes, new regulations no longer require livestock producers to destroy their cattle herd if one of their animals tests positive for brucellosis. NRDC will continue pressuring the Interior Department to protect these majestic animals instead of killing them.