2 | | 3 4 | | 5 Sea Shepherd was founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson in Vancouver, Canada, with the mission to protect and conserve all marine wildlife. Originally established under the name Earthforce Society, the group’s rst mission was to sail its newly purchased vessel, the Sea Shepherd, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Eastern Canada to stop the annual slaughter of baby harp seals. Later that year Captain Watson hunted down the notorious pirate whaling vessel, the Sierra, and rammed it in a Portuguese harbor, thus ending its infamous career as the scourge of the seas and cementing Sea Shepherd’s reputation for direct action tactics to stop poachers. O cially incorporated as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1981, today the movement has entities established in over twenty countries, a eet of ten vessels known as Neptune’s Navy, and thousands of passionate volunteers working together on direct-action campaigns around the world. Thanks to the unwavering support of generous supporters, in 2017 Sea Shepherd celebrated its fourth decade of marine conservation by conducting a record twenty-ve campaigns in just one year. From the Southern Ocean in Antarctica and the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa to Germany’s Baltic Sea and Mexico’s Gulf of California, Sea Shepherd crew worked in partnership with local authorities to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) shing, removed thousands of deadly shing nets, and gathered evidence to help bring poachers to justice. On-shore campaigns protected endangered sea turtle nests, removed tons of dangerous marine debris from beaches and waterways and exposed the illegal transport of shark ns in Southeast Asia. While the frontlines of ocean conservation may continue to change, Sea Shepherd will be there to defend, conserve, and protect marine life and the ecosystems that support life on planet earth. CONTENTS Design Chelsea Miller p. 112 First published in Italy in 2018 by 10 Neptune’s Planetary Navy Marcello Francone Eliza Muirhead pp. 182 (top right), Skira editore S.p.A. 183 (top right) Palazzo Casati Stampa Paul Watson Editorial Coordination Jake Parker pp. 29, 201 via Torino 61 Vincenza Russo (bottom left) 20123 Milano 12 On the Frontline of Ocean Conservation Editing Bill Rankin p. 179 (bottom) Italy Emily Ligniti Michael Rauch pp. 74 (top), www.skira.net Peter Hammarstedt 78 (top left) Layout © 2018 Sea Shepherd Global Rob Read p. 42 (bottom) Evelina Laviano © 2018 Skira editore 14 Years 1975–1979 Melissa Romao pp. 77, 144 Photo Credits (bottom) All rights reserved under Simon Ager pp. 75, 80 (top), Sea Shepherd Archives pp. 18, international copyright 24 WILDLIFE 81, 115, 147 (bottom left), 149, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 31, conventions. 176, 180 (center), 181, 185 (top 32, 35, 36–67, 69, 73 (top), 82 No part of this book may be left, bottom left, bottom right), (top), 84–111, 113 (top left & right), reproduced or utilized in any 36 Years 1980–1986 187, 188 (bottom), 190–191, 192 114, 116–143, 145, 150, 154, 156, form or by any means, electronic (bottom right), 197, 198 (top left) 158–163, 168–169, 173, 177, 178, or mechanical, including Karine Aigner pp. 152, 198 193 (bottom right), 195 (bottom) photocopying, recording, or any 56 SHIPS (bottom left), 201 (top right, Sam Sielen pp. 148, 151 information storage and retrieval bottom right) Gary Stokes pp. 80 (bottom), 174, system, without permission 84 Years 1987–1994 Mariano Baldo pp. 12, 76, 183 175, 194 (right), 200 in writing from the publisher. (bottom), 186 (bottom), 193 Paul Taggart p. 68 Printed and bound in Italy. (middle left) Jonny Vasic p. 70 106 CREW LIFE First edition Carolina Castro pp. 83, 147 Barbara Veiga pp. 2–3, 4–5, 72, (bottom right), 195 (top right) 170, 171 (bottom), 172 ISBN: 978-88-572-3629-2 120 Years 1995–2002 Eric Cheng pp. 73 (bottom), 167 Nicolas Vera p. 24 (bottom left) Distributed in USA, Canada, Guillaume Collet p. 179 (top) Rodolphe Villevieille pp. 24 Central & South America by Lukas Erichsen pp. 33, 34, 199 (bottom right), 82 (bottom), 201 140 CAPTAINS ARTBOOK | D.A.P. 75 Broad Niels Gardner p. 193 (bottom left) (top left) Street Suite 630, New York, Alejandra Gimeno pp. 26, 30, 198 Tim Watters pp. 74 (bottom), NY 10004, USA. 156 Years 2003–2017 (bottom right) 78 (bottom left and right), 79, Distributed elsewhere in the Greenpeace pp. 14, 15, 16, 17 146, 147 (top left), 153, 155, 182 world by Thames and Hudson Peter Hammarstedt p. 189 (bottom centre), 183 (top left), Ltd., 181A High Holborn, London 203 List of Sea Shepherd Entities Adam Lau pp. 164, 165, 166 184, 185 (top right), 186 (top), WC1V 7QX, United Kingdom. Glenn Lockitch pp. 182 (left), 198 188 (top left & right), 193 (top in the World (top right) left & right), 194 (both left hand Jo-Anne McArthur pp. 10, 71, side), 196 204 List of Sea Shepherd Global 171 (top) Mayk Wendt p. 195 (top left) and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Michelle McCarron p. 180 (top, Jeff Wirth pp. 113 (bottom), 144 right, bottom) (top), 147 (top right), 192 (top left Campaigns and Operations Brooke McDonald p. 157 & right, bottom left) NEPTUNE’S PLANETARY NAVY legal nets in the waters of the Sea of Cortez. Our crews An individual can be stopped. An organization can saved the lives of over 6,000 whales in the waters around be shut down. A movement, however, is untouchable and Forty years ago I established an organization for the purpose Antarctica and ended the plundering of the toothsh in an idea is unstoppable. of intervening against illegal exploitation of marine wildlife. the Southern Ocean by shutting down an entire poach- Today, Sea Shepherd operates as registered indepen- It was 1977 and I had just resigned from the Green- ing eet. We chased an illegal Chinese drift net eet back dent entities in dozens of dierent nations united by a peace Foundation of which I was a founding director. to China where they were arrested by the Chinese gov- common philosophy and common objectives. Incorrupt- I could no longer abide bearing witness, hanging ernment, seized another Chinese poaching eet in East ible, courageous, and dedicated to the collective under- banners, and taking photographs of slaughter and de- Timor, stopped BP and Chevron from drilling in the Great standing that if the ocean dies, we all die! struction. I felt that protesting was simply submissive and Australian Bight, freed illegally caught Bluen tuna from We are a biocentric force for ecology, representing futile. There had to be another path. the nets of poachers, and forged enforcement partner- our clients—the living species in the sea, from phyto- And thus, I founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation ships with Mexico, Gabon, Liberia, East Timor, Ecuador, plankton to the great whales. Society in British Columbia, Canada. Four decades later São Tomé and Pr¦ncipe, Dominica, and Italy. In short, a Sea Shepherd leadership is composed of men and we have become a highly eective global movement for litany of successful campaigns involving thousands of women who began as volunteers on ships and campaigns ocean conservation. passionate volunteers. and weathered the confrontations, the storms, and the With our rst ship, the Sea Shepherd, we hunted It is these volunteers that have made Sea Shepherd ef- controversies. down the pirate whaler Sierra, in July 1979, rammed it fective. The passion, the imagination, and the courage of Today, our ships are deployed in both hemispheres twice, and ended its criminal career. volunteers from around the world is the most important from Antarctica to the Arctic and can be found where our Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only! That action changed the rules for the conservation factor in Sea Shepherd campaigns. We could not pay pro- clients need us. Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me; movement. Direct action spoke much louder than words, fessionals to take the risks and to work as hard to achieve When you become a supporter of Sea Shepherd, and although we were aggressive, we strategically re- what these volunteers do for free. you become part of a dynamic movement that is literally For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, mained non-violent. I called it aggressive nonviolence, Sea Shepherd exists because of the dedicated crew changing the world for the better. And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. and not once in our forty years of operations have we that serves on the ships, works as on-shore volunteers, and Walt Whitman caused a single death, nor have we caused a single physical the generous people who donate to our collective eorts. For the oceans, for our children, and for all future injury to any person. It is a movement of Oceanic Warriors making waves and generations of all living things. We operate within the boundaries of practicality and thus making a dierence. the law and in accordance with the principles established And although I created an organization, it is thanks in the United Nations World Charter for Nature. to the passion of thousands that Sea Shepherd has be- Since 1977, Sea Shepherd has shut down illegal whal- come a global movement, and the value of this cannot Captain Paul Watson ing, sealing, and sh poaching operations. We have res- be underestimated. The Japanese whalers discovered Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society cued dolphins, defended sea turtles, and we have worked this when they used their power to obstruct my personal President of the Board of Directors (USA) with the Mexican government to defend the endangered movements and attempted to shut down the operations Executive Director Sea Shepherd USA Vaquita by searching for and conscating hundreds of il- of Sea Shepherd in the USA.