Sea Shepherd
By Hope Wilkos, South Florida Blogger
Anybody who has ever watched Animal Planet’s ‘Whale Wars’ is very familiar with a passionate, dedicated, fearless and committed group of individuals known as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Very simply put, their mission is to end the slaughter and destruction of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. This ensures survival for future generations.
The organization is totally Non-Profit and all the efforts put forth are done by courageous volunteers that truly believe in this worthwhile cause. They go out on some of the most treacherous seas for approximately 3 months time and put their regular day to day lives on hold.
This all began when Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson founded Earth Force Society in Vancouver, BC in 1977. Sea Shepherd was formally incorporated in the United States in 1981 in the state of Oregon.
The organization purchased their first ship with the financial backing of the Cleveland Amory of the Fund for the Animals (a British Trawler) and renamed it Sea Shepherd. That was how they started on the high seas. On their first mission, they took on the ice floes of Eastern Canada and intended to interfere with the annual killing of baby harp seals known as whitecoats. They were also successful that year in hunting down and ramming the notorious pirate whaler, Sierra, in a Portugal harbor ending the whaler’s infamous career on the high seas. Sea Shepherd’s strong belief to save marine life has seen them through many turbulent times. They have suffered the loss of some of their ships over the years by angry hunters. But they will not declare defeat and keep working for the cause. One of their ships is named the Steve Irwin, named after a well-known proponent of this entire campaign.
All of Sea Shepherd’s accomplishments are done through non-violent tactics. They use a more innovative approach to accomplish their goal. They adhere to the United Nations World Charter for Nature.
Their vessels have embarked on over 200 voyages covering world oceans and we continue to see tremendous progress with each journey that they undertake.
Volunteers come together from diverse backgrounds but share a common goal. They put their lives on hold for a period of time due in part to their fervor to save marine life, specifically whales, seals, blue-fin tuna and dolphins.
Many people may not realize some of the heart wrenching facts:
The International Whaling Commission has put a moratorium on all commercial whaling. However, Iceland and Norway and Japan continue to brutally slaughter whales.
Sharks are being depleted faster than they can reproduce. There are 100 million sharks being killed by fishermen each year for food, jewelry and souvenirs. This is a huge threat to the stability of marine ecosystems.
Canada’s commercial seal ‘hunt’ is the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals in the world. This year Canada will allow 270,000 harp seals and to be killed in a brutal and inhumane way.
The killing of dolphins in the Faeroe Islands and Japan has been recognized by Sea Shepherd and they are making every attempt to end this dreadful slaughter.
In the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Sea Shepherd is working with the National Marine Park Service on anti-poaching enforcement and conservation programs.
Operation BlueRage is the 2010 Mediterranean BlueFin Tuna Defense Campaign. The bluefin tuna is quickly becoming extinct. As of June of this year, Sea Shepherd has freed 800 endangered tuna and still working diligently on increasing that number.
Then there are the admirable efforts taking place in Operation Gulf Rescue. The devastation of the Gulf oil spill has triggered a focus to save marine habitats and document conditions in the waters surrounding the offshore islands.
Currently as of this writing, three Sea Shepherd ships with 88 voluntary crew members from 21 different nations are all on their way to participating in the 7th Sea Shepherd voyage into remote and hostile waters in search of Japanese whalers. The promising news is that the whalers got a late start this season and that may work against them.
Without generous donations, this monumental effort could not continue. The group is forever thankful for all those supporters who give their time, spirit and funding to try and make this achievement a reality and save the marine life in all the beautiful seas across the world. Our hats go off to Captain Paul Watson for his incessant spirit, drive and determination.
To learn more about these admirable efforts, go to http://www.seashepherd.org
Each and every person that visits this website can do their part to assist in realizing the ultimate goal.
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