Existing comment:
These guys were with Sea Shepherd.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States.
Sea Shepherd uses direct action tactics and information campaigns to protect marine life and inform the public of their plight. The organization was founded in 1977 under the name Earth Force Society by Paul Watson, a former member of Greenpeace. In 2008, Animal Planet began filming the weekly series Whale Wars based on the group's encounters with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, which raised public awareness of the issue of illegal whaling and of the organization itself. Sea Shepherd has received widespread public support for its actions against illegal fishing, whaling, and seal hunting as well as support and funding from celebrities, such as musicians and TV personalities.
Sea Shepherd currently operates nine vessels (see: Neptune's Navy). In addition to the organization's role of documenting and reporting violations of conservation laws, Sea Shepherd operations have utilized direct, non-lethal tactics including scuttling and disabling whaling vessels at harbor, intervening in Canadian and Namibian seal hunts, shining laser light at whalers, throwing bottles of foul-smelling butyric acid onto vessels at sea, boarding of whaling vessels to protest while at sea, and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea. Sea Shepherd claims that their tactics are necessary to uncover and impede actions that violate international laws protecting wildlife, as the international community has shown itself unwilling or unable to stop species-endangering whaling and fishing practices.
The tactics of Sea Shepherd have been opposed, even by some who denounce whaling, such as Greenpeace and some officials in the governments of Australia and New Zealand. Paul Watson and American members of Sea Shepherd are currently prohibited by US courts from approaching or harassing Japanese whalers, even if they are observed acting in defiance of international law, i.e., by killing whales in protected waters.
The Japanese government, whose whaling industry is a leading target of the organization's efforts, have called Sea Shepherd eco-terrorists for impeding their research. However, in March 2014 the International Court of Justice ruled the Japanese whaling program in the Southern Ocean was not, as claimed, for scientific purposes, and ordered Japan to cease operations. |