A fictional short story based on the words and life of Captain Paul Watson. A new captivating episode every Friday. Prequel.
The sea was rough, a wild, angry mass that tossed our little ship "Greenpeace I" around like a toy. The icy wind bit into my skin, but I leant out anyway, my fingers clutching the wet railing. Amchitka Island lay before me - inhospitable, grey, and yet full of life. Sea otters, peregrine falcons, eagles - creatures who had no idea that something unimaginable was being prepared beneath them: a nuclear test.
"We have to stop it," I muttered, more to myself than to the others.
It was 1971 and I was in my early twenties. My ideals were as clear as the sky on a summer morning and I was prepared to risk everything. Maybe I was naive. Maybe even stupid. But I knew I couldn't look away. So did everyone on board, a dozen idealistic hippies and reporters.
The operation failed. The sea was too rough for our nutshell. It's a miracle it didn't sink in the harbour. The nuclear test was carried out and I saw the shock and disappointment on the faces of my fellow campaigners. But while they were crestfallen, I felt something else: anger. Not the kind of anger that makes you blind. No, this was an anger that gave me clarity. An anger that made me more determined to protect those who have no voice.
Four years later, I was back in the icy expanse of the Pacific. This time I was in a small Zodiac boat dancing between the high waves. In front of us was a Soviet whaling ship, harpoon at the ready.
"Keep going!" I shouted over the noise of the engine.
The driver looked at me, unsure, but he obeyed. We drove right between the ship and a mother whale with her calf. The harpoon was now pointed at us.
My heart was beating like a jackhammer, but I stood still. I knew I couldn't give way. "If we're here, they can't shoot," I thought.
But I was wrong.
The harpoon whizzed past us and hit the mother whale. The whale's scream wasn't a sound you could hear - it was a feeling that vibrated through every fibre of my body. I watched as she reared up, blood colouring the water red, and slowly disappeared.
I swear to you, at that moment she looked at me. Her eyes were full of pain, but also full of knowledge.
I wanted to scream, cry, do something, but I just stood there, frozen.
"That was the moment I changed," I would often say later. It was the moment when I knew that I would never stand idly by again.
Not long afterwards, they broke with Greenpeace. They wanted to protest, sign petitions and raise awareness. But that was no longer enough for me.
"You don't understand," I said in a heated discussion. "These animals don't have time to wait."
I founded Sea Shepherd in 1977. I bought the first ship, the "Sea Shepherd I", with a loan and the sale of posters, T-shirts and buttons. It was a rickety old tugboat, but it was ours.
Our first mission was simple and direct: to track a whaling ship that was illegally hunting blue and fin whales. It was dangerous, it was crazy, but it worked. We handed over the evidence to the authorities and the ship was stopped.
I'm telling you this because I want you to understand what's at stake. It's not just about the whales, the dolphins or the sharks. It's about everything. About the oceans. About our survival.
You can do something. Share this story. Tell others why protecting the oceans is important. Support us if you can - with your voice, your heart or a donation.
Because if the oceans die, we die.
Dhe legendary environmental activist Captain Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, was arrested in Greenland in July 2024. This was done at the request of the whaling nation Japan without an international or national arrest warrant and without there ever having been a judgement or even a trial. The Danish judiciary delayed the defence hearing month after month. Incriminating video footage that would exonerate Paul Watson beyond doubt was not released by the court for almost half a year. Paul Watson spent his 74th birthday in prison and was only released on 16 December 2024. The bland aftertaste of the blanket criminalisation of activism remains. Clearly a political issue, as the Danish Faroe Islands would have liked to see Watson die in a Japanese prison. It is unacceptable that people like Paul Watson should be extradited to an Asian whaling nation for allegedly causing minor damage to property when politicians have been lying to us with impunity on climate issues for half a century. For those of us who were there, who invested energy, time and a lot of money in Paul's rescue, it already feels like another adventure in Paul's heroic life, even though he has only been back in Paris for a week, at home with his wife and children. So that we never forget how important the fight for the earth is, I publish exciting short stories from Paul Watson's life from time to time. Of course, the storyboard is fictional, as I made it up. But it is based on Paul's stories, interviews, videos and reports. You can find all the sources in the list of sources.
1France24. (2024). Japan asks Denmark to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson [Article]. Available at: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240801-japan-asks-denmark-to-extradite-anti-whaling-activist-paul-watson Accessed on 7 December 2024 2n-tv. (2024). Whaling opponent Paul Watson still imprisoned. Available at: https://www.n-tv.de/panorama/Walfang-Gegner-Paul-Watson-noch-immer-in-Groenland-inhaftiert-FreePaulWatson-setzt-sich-fuer-Freilassung-ein-article25173640.html Accessed on 7 December 2024 3YouTube. (2023). Paul Watson: The Whale Warrior - A Pirate for the Sea [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/Fm2kMu8Jrs4 Accessed on 7 December 2024 4YouTube. (2023). Eco Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson - Documentary [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/dfWvnc,,Y1_ww Accessed on 7 December 2024 5ARTE. (2023). Paul Watson - Protector of the Oceans | Documentary HD | ARTE [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/2fVJyAE3J0M Accessed on 7 December 2024 6Frankfurter Allgemeine. (2014). International Court of Justice: Japan may no longer hunt whales in the Antarctic. Available at: https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/internationaler-gerichtshof-japan-darf-in-der-antarktis-keine-wale-mehr-jagen-12872493.html Accessed on 7 December 2024 7Sea Shepherd Germany. (2024). Campaigns in the Faroe Islands - Sea Shepherd. Available at: https://sea-shepherd.de/kampagnen/kampagnen-auf-den-faroer-inseln Accessed on 7 December 2024 8YouTube, 15 YEARS LIABILITY for ANIMAL PROTECTORS?! Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson arrested | Robert Marc Lehmann from 20.08.202. Available at: https://youtu.be/qY4vM2tVSsk?t=75 Accessed on 2.12.2024 9YouTube. Joel V, CONFESS OF ECO TERRORIST 1. available at: https://youtu.be/7X7TfMY3g7g Accessed on 2.12.2024 10YouTube. Information Archive, Eco Pirate The Story Of Paul Watson - Documentary - 2011. available at: https://youtu.be/dfWvncY1_ww Accessed on 2.12.2024 11YouTube., INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE de Paul Watson - #QuelleEpoque 21 décembre 2024. available at: https://youtu.be/oFvN45XcRMk Accessed on 2 January 2025 12YouTube. Vakita, Paul Watson : l'interview en prison avec Hugo Clément from 09.12.2024. Available at: https://youtu.be/G7MKZovUp1s Accessed on 2 January 2025 13YouTube. Greenpeace: Pioneers of Environmental Activism | SLICE EARTH | FULL DOC from 04.05.2024. Available at: https://youtu.be/Pc28_flxAtg Accessed on 1 December 2024 14YouTube. A Decade of Change - Greenpeace in the 1970s [Documentary]uploaded on 16.12.2011. Available at: https://youtu.be/h5GUl7ZGwyk Accessed on 1 December 2024 15YouTube. Paul Watson The Whale Warrior A Pirate for the Sea. Available at: https://youtu.be/Fm2kMu8Jrs4b Accessed on 1 December 2024 16YouTube. Capt Paul Watson: Guardian of the Seas 1/2 Available at: https://youtu.be/PQdBjMHbDTc Accessed on 1 December 2024 17YouTube. Am Ende der Welt (2010) [Documentary] | Film (German). Available at: https://youtu.be/U1J58njPuAI Accessed on 1 December 2024 18YouTube. Weber State University, Paul Watson - "Sea Shepherd's Mission: Conservation". Available at: https://youtu.be/rQBnAs2aAN0 Accessed on 1 December 2024 19YouTube. TEDx Talks, TEDxSF - Captain Paul Watson - 4/27/10. available at: https://youtu.be/Y0XOx_UVRPo Accessed on 1 December 2024 20YouTube. TEDx Talks, If our oceans die, we die | Captain Paul Watson | TEDxNoosa from 25 June 2015. Available at: https://youtu.be/Bwgx9DaiE2g Accessed on 5 January 2025 21YouTube. Whale Wars - Confessions of an Eco Terrorist 1, 2011 Available at: https://youtu.be/7X7TfMY3g7g Accessed on 26 November 2024 22YouTube, Sharkwater - When sharks die. Available at: https://youtu.be/7LE3JHUPRJA Accessed on 30/06/2023 23YouTube. ARTEde, Paul Watson - Schützer der Meere | Doku HD | ARTE from 28.9.2024. Available at: https://youtu.be/2fVJyAE3J0M Accessed on 24 November 2024 24YouTube. Captain Paul Watson Foundation, Paul Watson: Exclusive Interview with Wild Actual from Anstalten Prison, Greenland. Available at: https://youtu.be/XX63OOV1moA Accessed on 23 November 2024 25Nachrichten.fr, Paul Watson still in custody: Agnès Pannier-Runacher demands release of the whale protector, 25.10.2024, https://nachrichten.fr/paul-watson-weiterhin-in-haft-agnes-pannier-runacher-fordert-freilassung-des-walschuetzers/ 26Martin Fritz, Sea Shepherd founder - Free Paul Watson, taz, 17.10.2024, https://taz.de/Sea-Shepherd-Gruender/%216040251/ 27Rolf Arndt, Activist Paul Watson still imprisoned, Activist Paul Watson still imprisoned, Dänische Allgemeine Zeitung, 2 October 2024, https://www.daz.dk/2024/10/02/aktivist-paul-watson-weiterhin-inhaftiert/ 28Danish Parliament Confirms Faroe Islands Tip-off Led to Paul Watson's Arrest, Captain Paul Watson Foundation, https://www.paulwatsonfoundation.org/danish-parliament-confirms-faroe-islands-tip-off-led-to-paul-watsons-arrest/ 29Whale conservationist Paul Watson remains in custody on Greenland, DiePresse, 4.9.2024, https://www.diepresse.com/18828121/walschuetzer-paul-watson-bleibt-auf-groenland-in-haft 30Sophie Bachet, A dilemma of law and ethics: Denmark to decide fate of imprisoned anti-whaling environmentalist Paul Watson, The Copenhagen Post, 3.9.2024, https://cphpost.dk/2024-09-03/news/a-dilemma-of-law-and-ethics-denmark-to-decide-fate-of-imprisoned-anti-whaling-environmentalist-paul-watson/ 31Nicolai Kampmann, Paul Watson will remain behind bars in Greenland until December, The Copenhagen Post, 13.11.2024, https://cphpost.dk/2024-11-13/news/round-up/paul-watson-will-remain-behind-bars-in-greenland-until-december/ 32Thomas Borchert, Denmark and the case of Paul Watson, Frankfurter Rundschau, 11 August 2024, https://www.fr.de/panorama/daenemark-und-der-fall-paul-watson-93236487.html 33Japan asks Denmark to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, France24, 1.8.2024, https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240801-japan-asks-denmark-to-extradite-anti-whaling-activist-paul-watson 34Greenland arrests environmental activist Paul Watson, WeLT, , 26.7.2024, https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/prominente/article252635096/Paul-Watson-Groenland-nimmt-Umweltaktivisten-fest-Haftbefehl-aus-Japan.html 35EU Öko Abschiebehaft, Patrick Ruppelt, published on Instagram on... damn, where can I find the date of a post on Instagram? The post was published on my blog on 29.7.2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/DAogVosupRT/ 36Patrick Ruppelt, That's why cow's milk is always cruelty to animals, 20/11/2024, https://paddys.de/darum-ist-kuhmilch-immer-tierquaelerei/ 37Mark Benecke, "Time is Up!" - Mark Benecke in the EU Parliament, Martin Sonneborn, 24 July 2024, https://youtu.be/Z_p9yYXZuCI 3810üPatrick Ruppelt, Canada, oh Canada, Where senses and mind meet, 8.11.2024, https://paddys.de/kanada-oh-kanada/ 39Sebastian Schuster, Animals and animal welfare in Japan, Japan my love, 14 October 2024, https://japanmeineliebe.de/2021/03/10/tiere-und-tierschutz-in-japan/ 40 Kyoko Hasegaw, Japan shows first commercial fin whale catch in 48 years, Japan Times, 11.9.2024, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/11/japan/commercial-fin-whale-catch/ 41Patrick Ruppelt, EU Öko Abschiebehaft, Where senses and reason meet, 29 July 2024, https://paddys.de/eu-oeko-abschiebehaft/ 42Japan hunts whales in the whale sanctuary], Greenpeace e.V., Background, https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/fischerei/japan-jagt-wale-walschutzgebiet 43Valentin Schatz, Whaling Convention without Japan - The end of hide-and-seek, Legal Tribune Online, Wolters Kluwer, 2 January 2019, https://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/japan-austritt-walfangkonvention-voelkerrecht-moratorium-politik 44Patrick Ruppelt, DAS hat Japans Walfang mit deutscher Milch in Afrika zu tun, Where senses and reason meet, 15.10.2024, https://paddys.de/das-hat-japans-walfang-mit-deutscher-milch-in-afrika-zu-tun/ 45Japan hunts whales in the whale sanctuary], Greenpeace e.V., Background, https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/fischerei/japan-jagt-wale-walschutzgebiet 46International Court of Justice : Japan may no longer hunt whales in the Antarctic, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 31/03/2014, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/internationaler-gerichtshof-japan-darf-in-der-antarktis-keine-wale-mehr-jagen-12872493.html 47Katrin Matthes, Japan out of control? The fin whale quota disaster, 30.7.2024, https://de.whales.org/2024/07/30/das-desaster-um-die-finnwal-quote/ 48Bianca König, 31 July 2024, https://de.whales.org/2024/07/31/japan-jagt-finnwale/ 49Mars, NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/humans-to-mars/ 50Cedric Engels, Doctor Whatson, How will we live in 2050? Doctor Whatson: Live from the future, 21 April 2024, https://youtu.be/nKrvDNk5D84 51Our research and conservation projects, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), https://de.whales.org/wale-delfine/artenschutz-und-forschung/wdc-forschung-schutzprojekte/ 52International Court of Justice : Japan may no longer hunt whales in the Antarctic, Frankfurter Allgemeine, 31/03/2014, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/internationaler-gerichtshof-japan-darf-in-der-antarktis-keine-wale-mehr-jagen-12872493.html 53Selbstjustiz, die, Der deutsche Wortschatz von 1600 bis heute, DWDS - Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, https://www.dwds.de/wb/Selbstjustiz 54ARTEde, Sea Shepherd - Pursuit on the high seas | Doku HD Reupload | ARTE, 12.10.2024, https://youtu.be/dkPzZU-Dm3E 55Ten years in prison for Japanese whale conservationists?, Greenpeace Switzerland, 16 February 2010. https://www.greenpeace.ch/de/story/16118/zehn-jahre-gefaengnis-fuer-japanische-walschuetzer/ 56Sea Shepherd - Japanese arrest whaling opponents, stern, 12.3.2010, https://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/natur/sea-shepherd-japaner-nehmen-walfanggegner-fest-3569918.html 57Paul Watson Controversial whale conservationist arrested in Greenland, 22.7.2024, https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/paul-watson-festgenommen-100.htm 58The structure of the government, https://old.visitfaroeislands.com/de/ueber-die-faeroeer-inseln/die-struktur-der-regierung/ 59Campaigns in the Faroe Islands - Sea Shepherd, https://sea-shepherd.de/kampagnen/kampagnen-auf-den-faroer-inseln/ 60Sea Shepherd, https://sea-shepherd.de/kampagnen/kampagnen-auf-den-faroer-inseln/ 61cpwfgermany - The Faroe Islands and Denmark must stop the grindagrap! https://www.instagram.com/cpwfgermany/reel/DAB0PNqNs8P/ 62Sabine Oelmann, Whaling opponent Paul Watson still imprisoned, ntv Panorama, 22 August 2024, https://www.n-tv.de/panorama/Walfang-Gegner-Paul-Watson-noch-immer-in-Groenland-inhaftiert-FreePaulWatson-setzt-sich-fuer-Freilassung-ein-article25173640.html 63Patrick Ruppelt, in Held braucht deine Hilfe, Wo Sinne und Verstand aufeinander treffen, 17.11.202,4, https://paddys.de/ein-held-braucht-deine-hilfe/
