Greenpeace was too soft, too “proprietary” for his liking, and so he left it, although he was one of its founding members in 1971. Now 73-year-old Canadian activist Paul Watson has never hesitated to resort to even extreme measures in order to to serve his life purpose. Which led many to call him an “eco-terrorist” and often brought him to the dock. He sees himself rather as a kind of “Robin of the Seas”, fighting to protect marine animals threatened by human greed. First of all the whales, the hunting of which continues in a number of countries, despite the occasional agreements to protect the species.

The shepherd of the seas

In 1977 he founded the organization “Sea Shepherd Conservation Society” and a year later bought its first vessel, which could also be described as “war”, based on the methods of “aggressive non-violence”, as he quite aptly describes it. It is not only that he appears where the whalers are hunting and tries to hinder or even harass them. To block them, so that they cannot enter ports for resupply. Sometimes it has also caused conflicts, which led to shipwrecks and brought him face to face with the law.

He admits that his activism has an element of sensationalism and bets on the power of the image. He did not hesitate to agree to a reality show entitled “Whale Wars” (Wales War) in order to generate interest in his organization, which has now acquired branches worldwide, including in Germany. A foundation named after Watson has even been set up here.

The irons of the prison

Violent sinking incidents were recorded in 1986 in Iceland and in 1992 in Norway. The justice of the latter had sentenced him to a sentence of 120 days, which he did not serve after he was arrested in the Netherlands, which did not extradite him. But he ended up spending 80 days in prison. Neither did Germany extradite him in 2012, when it arrested him in Frankfurt. Or rather he didn’t have time to decide, since Watson paid the relevant bail and flew it out of the country.

On 21 July Watson was captured in Greenland, where he had sailed to resupply. This time things are more serious, since the international warrant against him has been pending since 2012 and has been issued at the request of Japanese justice. Japan, a country that withdrew in 2019 from the agreement to limit whaling, could be described as its “eternal rival”.

In 2010, in a similar “kamikaze” operation, his organization’s speedboat tried to ram a Japanese ship, causing it to sink. However, the captain of the “Sea Shepherd” managed to save himself and later climb aboard the whaler and was eventually captured by the Japanese and sentenced to two years in prison. However, the “shepherd of the seas” Watson, as the head of the organization, was sentenced along with him. Since then he has been hunted by the Japanese and he hunts their ships, which he believes are fishing illegally in Antarctic waters outside of Japan’s national waters.

The clever bird was caught

Even his current arrest is related to his war against the Japanese. She was refueling in Nuuk, Greenland, looking for the tracks of the Kangei Maru, the ship at the head of the Japanese whaling fleet, which Watson suspects is responsible for killing at least 1,000 whales in the icy waters of Antarctica. This particular ship has a cruising range of a total of 13,000 kilometers and for this reason it is estimated that it is moving exactly in a “prohibited zone”.

The Japanese reject this charge. In general they have become much more cautious because of the controversy with the “crazy old Canadian”, as they call him. The question now is whether the Danish authorities, which have jurisdiction over semi-independent Greenland, will bow to Japanese pressure and extradite him. According to his organization, if this happens, he faces several years in prison. The decision is expected after August 15. His request to be released on bail was refused, since experience says that once he paid, he would see to it that there was smoke.