40Th Anniversary Captain's Log No.75
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SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY 40TH ANNIVERSARY CAPTAIN’S LOG NO.75 2017 For more information about Sea Shepherd and our campaigns to defend, conserve & protect the oceanic wildlife please visit: seashepherd.org LETTER FROM THE HELM My Friends, It has been forty years since I founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and over those four decades we have evolved into something truly amazing. We are no longer an organization although we continue to be organized. We have evolved into a global movement. Robert Hunter once told me that when power is given to you, you must not hold it close or that power will corrupt and consume you. Let it go. The Japanese and the Costa Ricans did me an incredible service although to build what we call Neptune’s Navy: Cleveland Amory, Brigitte Bardot, Bob I doubt they would understand or appreciate it. Their opposition and their Barker, John Paul DeJoria, Sam Simon, Steve Irwin, Captain Locky MacLean, pursuit of myself allowed me to let that power go. The centralized became Farley Mowat, Gildo Pastor, Peter Rysman, Chris Sharp, Martin Sheen, Pritam the decentralized. The one became the many, the many became much more Singh, Lyle Turner, Steve Wynn, all of whom made it possible to secure these and that much more became a diversity of strategies, binding together an stalwart ships. unbreakable idea, reinforced by a powerful truth. And again, so many others that I simply do not have space to name, who have Our movement was birthed in the actions of men and women of strength, donated what they could, when they could and where they could, to finance courage, imagination and most importantly – passion. I let it go, so that it the costs of effective campaigns that have saved so many lives. might grow. And it has grown beyond my expectations. I know I can’t acknowledge everyone here but it has been my witnessing It took many painful lessons for me to learn what is needed for this collective of thousands of men and women from around the world for forty years that international passion to flower and bear fruit. has humbled me when I contemplate the incredible achievements they have delivered in the service of our Ocean and our Planet. For those who have criticized me over the years for being arrogant, for being stubborn, for being egotistical, for being foolhardy, I can say without shame My friends, we have built a movement for the 21st Century and it is a or hesitation – you were right. I was, and perhaps I still am, all these things. movement that can’t be destroyed. The Japanese government discovered In many ways, I had to be stubborn and persistent, a little ruthless and most this when they tried to neutralize me and when they attempted to destroy Sea importantly I had to be arrogant. I no longer need to be these things. I simply Shepherd in the USA and failed. We are now collaborating with Interpol and had to lay a foundation and after doing so I have had the pleasure of watching working with the governments of Ecuador, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, something very exciting being built. Liberia, Mexico, Tanzania, Peru and Dominica. I watched as Captain Peter Hammarstedt placed himself and his crew Who are the Sea Shepherds? From the people manning fundraising tables between a towering ship of death and a floating bomb where they stood their to cleaning and defending beaches, to donating to our cause to crewing our ground to save hundreds of whales. ships, we are a global movement of passionate, courageous, visionary people daring to make a difference and daring to stand up against overwhelming I watched as Captain Peter Hammarstedt, Captain Sid Chakravarty, and their odds and herculean challenges. intrepid crews relentlessly pursued the notorious poacher the Thunder and laboured for days to pull a weapon of mass ecological destruction from the We are united by a common understanding that if the Ocean dies, humanity depths of the Southern Ocean. also dies! I watched as hundreds of volunteers cleaned beaches, rescued turtles, freed And thus, I am thankful to every single person that has contributed to the tuna from the nets, stopped shark finners, rescued seals and saved the birth of this movement. Some have become disillusioned, some have lives of countless beautiful creatures from hostile waters around the globe. betrayed us, some have even come to despise us because such things are I observed our Captains and crews as they pulled nets in the Sea of Cortez, the growing pains of every movement. Many more however are eternally as Lamya Essemlali and her people built a powerful movement in France and loyal to our cause. In the end, what matters is what each of us has done, for launched campaign after campaign. I watched as Rob Read and his crews although every action may be just a drop in the Ocean, the Ocean is simply an stood down seal killers in Scotland. I watched as Rosie Kunneke and her accumulation of drops and I am thankful for every initiative and every action crews fought on the beaches of the Faroe Islands for the lives of pilot whales. that has made us what we are. I watched as Jeff Hansen and his crew drove BP and Chevron out of the And most importantly for myself, all of this has brought an immense personal Great Australian Bight. I watched as Captain Alex Cornelissen dove into the happiness in realizing that we have a movement that will endure long after I waters of Taiji to cut the nets to free dolphins. I watched as hundreds of ghost am no longer here, long after any of us are no longer here. nets were removed from the seas around the world, as thousands of tons of plastic was removed from the depths, as Dr. Alex Morton singlehandedly built Sometimes I am asked what campaign am I most proud of. The answer is I am a movement to challenge the destructive salmon farms. proud of them all but most importantly I am proud of what we all have created – this Sea Shepherd movement, this hope for the future of life in our Ocean. I cannot possibly identify every single person that has served as crew and supporters for hundreds of Sea Shepherd missions from the Arctic to Together we have been, and together we will always be. Antarctica and in the waters of every single continent on this planet. Thank you to each and every one of you. I have seen our Navy grow and become stronger every year and most importantly it has grown without causing a single injury to anyone we May the Ocean survive and may we continue to serve life and diversity. opposed, and thus has proven our application of aggressive non-violence as an extremely effective strategy. - Captain Paul Watson It is with great gratitude that I acknowledge the people who made it possible For more information about Sea Shepherd and our campaigns to defend, conserve & protect the oceanic wildlife please visit: seashepherd.org OPERATION MILAGRO III In June of 2017, Sea Shepherd concluded Operation Milagro III, our campaign in Mexico’s Gulf of California to protect the near-extinct vaquita porpoise and the endangered totoaba bass. During Milagro III the M/V Farley Mowat and the M/V Sam Simon spent six months patrolling the vaquita refuge in the Upper Gulf, retrieving illegal gillnets that trap and kill the vaquita and totoaba, along with other marine wildlife. Together, the two ships removed 233 pieces of illegal fishing gear. In February, scientists announced that only about 30 vaquita remained left in their habitat. This is half the amount that was recorded in 2015, making the vaquita the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Sadly, during Operation Milagro III, Sea Shepherd discovered 5 dead vaquita. Their deaths are attributed to being caught in gillnets set up by poachers to trap the totoaba bass, whose swim bladder is prized for unsubstantiated medicinal properties in China and Hong Kong, where it sells for tens of thousands of dollars. Once the vaquita become entangled in these gill nets, they are unable to reach the surface of the water to breathe, causing them to drown. These nets do not discriminate. During the campaign, the crew removed 1195 dead animals – among them sharks, dolphins, turtles and sea lions – and released 795 live ones. Throughout the campaign, Sea Shepherd used radar and drones to nab Protected Natural Areas) and the marine scientists from INEC (National Institute of poachers in the act, contacting authorities who could then make arrests. The Ecology and Climate Change), our partners on Operation Milagro III. ships also gathered information on the location of the nets to retrieve them from the sea. Sea Shepherd works with members of its partner network to Sea Shepherd has had a presence in Mexico protecting the vaquita since 2015. ensure these illegal nets will be recycled responsibly and never find their way Sea Shepherd’s inaugural Operation Milagro brought much-needed attention to back into the ocean. the plight of the vaquita, spawning groundbreaking efforts to protect this imperiled species. On April 18, 2015, Sea Shepherd crewmembers documented the first Sea Shepherd has also been documenting the illegal fishing gear and recorded sighting of a vaquita since 2013, shattering claims by some locals that the the number and species of animals found in nets in the region, effectively species is already extinct. The resulting video made national headlines in Mexico, contributing data for The International Committee for the Recovery of the prompting the government to reach out to Sea Shepherd.