A fictional short story based on the words and life of Captain Paul Watson. A new captivating episode every Friday.
The ocean was a black, endless expanse, criss-crossed by an invisible enemy. I had seen a lot of cruelty, seen whales die, heard dolphins scream in panic, but nothing prepared me for the sight of these deadly veils. Drift nets - a vicious invention of industrial fishing, stretched for kilometres, strewn with dead bodies. Whales, sharks, turtles, birds, all drowned, entangled in a web of nylon and human greed.
I stood on the deck of the Sea Shepherd II, our ship swaying gently in the dark sea. It was a moonless night, the perfect veil for what we were planning. These nets were illegal. The United Nations had banned them, and yet they covered the ocean like a massive spider's web. The perpetrators? Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean fishing fleets - organised, profit-driven, unscrupulous. The authorities did nothing, the governments looked the other way. So we did.
We called it Operation Albatross - named after the ghosts of the seabirds we so often found strangled in the nets. Our goal was simple and yet dangerous: to destroy the nets, to tear them out of the ocean, metre by metre, for as long as we could?
Our crew consisted of determined men and women. Some were experienced fighters, veterans of the whaling war in the Antarctic. Others were idealists who had just realised that the law was not made for the protection of nature, but for its exploitation. We all had one thing in common - we were prepared to risk our lives for the ocean.
I grabbed the binoculars and scanned the horizon. There they were - dark silhouettes against the starry sky. Japanese fishing boats, their decks illuminated by cold, white light. They didn't know we were there. Not yet.
"Everyone to the stations," I said quietly but firmly. The adrenalin was already pumping through my veins.
We had a simple strategy: be quick.
We would find the nets, haul them in with hooks, pull them on board and cut them up with chainsaws, knives and our bare hands. Before the fishermen could react, we had to cause as much damage as possible. One less net meant thousands of lives saved.
Then, finally, we saw it.
A net, almost two kilometres long, glided over the dark waves. I could already see shadows in it - dead fish, a dolphin, half cut up, its eyes wide open in a final expression of pain.
My fist clenched around the steel railing.
"Let's go."
Hooks were thrown, ropes tightened. Centimetre by centimetre, we pulled the net out of the water. The moisture steamed in the cool air, the light from our torches reflected off the wet strands.
Then I saw him.
A young shark, barely two metres long, still alive but weakened. Its eyes flickered when we reached it. I knelt down and called for a knife. The shark didn't even move when I started to cut the net around its gills. Its body trembled, but when the last piece of the net fell, it shot away with the last of its strength.
A life saved. A drop in the ocean, but a life.
Suddenly - a ray of light.
Then shouts.
Seconds later, the engines of the fishing boats sounded.
They had seen us.
"They're coming!" a voice called across the deck.
The fishing fleet started to move, four boats shot towards us. They wanted to ram us.
"Rudder hard to starboard!" I shouted.
The Sea Shepherd II's engine howled and the old but reliable ship turned out of the path of the first boat just in time. Water splashed up as the bow wave hit us. We slid across the wet deck, but nobody let go. The crew fought on, cut by cut, metre by metre.
The second boat came closer. A bright spotlight hit us, blinding me for a moment. Then I saw it - a man on deck with a club in his hand, ready to throw.
"DOWN!" I shouted.
The truncheon flew through the air, missed me by a hair's breadth and crashed into the wheelhouse. The fishermen were furious. They had realised what we were doing. They knew that we were harming them - not physically, but financially.
And that's exactly what made us dangerous.
We had destroyed almost a hundred metres of the net when I cut the last strand. Then came the moment of truth. The fishermen were too close. We could no longer continue working.
"That's enough for today," I finally said. "Let's get out of here."
We threw the last part of the net into the water - useless, destroyed. I stepped back, panting with exertion. My hands were shaking.
Then, suddenly, a noise from the depths.
A dolphin.
It jumped out of the water right in front of our bow. A single, shiny body in the darkness. A moment of silence. Then it disappeared again.
I closed my eyes.
A sign.
Thank you.
And a promise that we would come back.
That night we destroyed several kilometres of drift nets. We prevented the senseless deaths of countless sea creatures. And yet I knew it was only a small victory.
New nets would be laid out the next day. New fishing boats would arrive.
But I also knew that we wouldn't stop.
Not on this day. Not in this life.
Because the ocean will only die if we forget it. And as long as we exist, that will never happen.
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.
1 Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist - documentary film (2011), https://youtu.be/7X7TfMY3g7g Accessed on 19.2.2025 2 Greenpeace: Japan hunts whales in whale sanctuary, https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/fischerei/japan-jagt-wale-walschutzgebiet Accessed on 19.2.2025 3 Japan Times: First commercial fin whale catches in 48 years (2024), https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/11/japan/commercial-fin-whale-catch/ Accessed on 19.2.20254Paul Watson: The Whale Warrior - A Pirate for the Sea, YouTube documentary, https://youtu.be/Fm2kMu8Jrs4 Accessed on 19.2.2025 5Eco Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson - Documentary, YouTube documentary, https://youtu.be/dfWvncY1_ww Accessed on 19.2.2025 6Paul Watson - Protector of the Oceans | ARTE Doku, ARTE-Dokumentation, https://youtu.be/2fVJyAE3J0M Accessed on 19.2.2025 7Sea Shepherd Concludes Operation, 07 Apr, 2016, https://www.seashepherd.ch/de-ch/news-events-chde/sea_shepherd_concludes_operation_driftnet-3/ Accessed on 19.2.2025 8International Court of Justice Japan may no longer hunt whales in the Antarctic, 31/03/2014, Dead minke whales on the Japanese coast https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/internationaler-gerichtshof-japan-darf-in-der-antarktis-keine-wale-mehr-jagen-12872493.html accessed on 19.2.2025 9France24. (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 10n-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 11YouTube. (2023). Paul Watson: The Whale Warrior - A Pirate for the Sea [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/Fm2kMu8Jrs4 Accessed on 7 December 2024 12YouTube. (2023). Eco Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson - Documentary [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/dfWvnc,,Y1_ww Accessed on 7 December 2024 13ARTE. (2023). Paul Watson - Protector of the Oceans | Documentary HD | ARTE [Video]. Available at: https://youtu.be/2fVJyAE3J0M Accessed on 7 December 2024 14Frankfurter 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 15Sea 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 16YouTube, 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 17YouTube. Joel V, CONFESS OF ECO TERRORIST 1. available at: https://youtu.be/7X7TfMY3g7g Accessed on 2.12.2024 18YouTube. Information Archive, Eco Pirate The Story Of Paul Watson - Documentary - 2011. available at: https://youtu.be/dfWvncY1_ww Accessed on 2.12.2024 19YouTube., INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVE de Paul Watson - #QuelleEpoque 21 décembre 2024. available at: https://youtu.be/oFvN45XcRMk Accessed on 2 January 2025 20YouTube. 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 21YouTube. 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 22YouTube. 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 23YouTube. Paul Watson The Whale Warrior A Pirate for the Sea. Available at: https://youtu.be/Fm2kMu8Jrs4b Accessed on 1 December 2024 24YouTube. Capt Paul Watson: Guardian of the Seas 1/2 Available at: https://youtu.be/PQdBjMHbDTc Accessed on 1 December 2024 25YouTube. Am Ende der Welt (2010) [Documentary] | Film (German). Available at: https://youtu.be/U1J58njPuAI Accessed on 1 December 2024 26YouTube. Weber State University, Paul Watson - "Sea Shepherd's Mission: Conservation". Available at: https://youtu.be/rQBnAs2aAN0 Accessed on 1 December 2024 27YouTube. TEDx Talks, TEDxSF - Captain Paul Watson - 4/27/10. available at: https://youtu.be/Y0XOx_UVRPo Accessed on 1 December 2024 28YouTube. 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 29YouTube. Whale Wars - Confessions of an Eco Terrorist 1, 2011 Available at: https://youtu.be/7X7TfMY3g7g Accessed on 26 November 2024 30YouTube, Sharkwater - When sharks die. Available at: https://youtu.be/7LE3JHUPRJA Accessed on 30/06/2023 31YouTube. ARTEde, Paul Watson - Schützer der Meere | Doku HD | ARTE from 28.9.2024. Available at: https://youtu.be/2fVJyAE3J0M Accessed on 24 November 2024 32YouTube. 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 33Nachrichten.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/ 34Martin Fritz, Sea Shepherd founder - Free Paul Watson, taz, 17.10.2024, https://taz.de/Sea-Shepherd-Gruender/%216040251/ 35Rolf 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/ 36Danish 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/ 37Whale 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 38Sophie 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/ 39Nicolai 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/ 40Thomas 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 41Japan 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 42Greenland 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 43EU 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/ 44Patrick Ruppelt, That's why cow's milk is always cruelty to animals, 20/11/2024, https://paddys.de/darum-ist-kuhmilch-immer-tierquaelerei/ 45Mark Benecke, "Time is Up!" - Mark Benecke in the EU Parliament, Martin Sonneborn, 24 July 2024, https://youtu.be/Z_p9yYXZuCI 4610üPatrick Ruppelt, Canada, oh Canada, Where senses and mind meet, 8.11.2024, https://paddys.de/kanada-oh-kanada/ 47Sebastian Schuster, Animals and animal welfare in Japan, Japan my love, 14 October 2024, https://japanmeineliebe.de/2021/03/10/tiere-und-tierschutz-in-japan/ 48 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/ 49Patrick Ruppelt, EU Öko Abschiebehaft, Where senses and reason meet, 29 July 2024, https://paddys.de/eu-oeko-abschiebehaft/ 50Japan hunts whales in the whale sanctuary], Greenpeace e.V., Background, https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/fischerei/japan-jagt-wale-walschutzgebiet 51Valentin 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 52Patrick 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/ 53Japan hunts whales in the whale sanctuary], Greenpeace e.V., Background, https://www.greenpeace.de/biodiversitaet/meere/fischerei/japan-jagt-wale-walschutzgebiet 54International 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 55Katrin 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/ 56Bianca König, 31 July 2024, https://de.whales.org/2024/07/31/japan-jagt-finnwale/ 57Mars, NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/humans-to-mars/ 58Cedric Engels, Doctor Whatson, How will we live in 2050? Doctor Whatson: Live from the future, 21 April 2024, https://youtu.be/nKrvDNk5D84 59Our research and conservation projects, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), https://de.whales.org/wale-delfine/artenschutz-und-forschung/wdc-forschung-schutzprojekte/ 60International 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 61Selbstjustiz, die, Der deutsche Wortschatz von 1600 bis heute, DWDS - Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, https://www.dwds.de/wb/Selbstjustiz 62ARTEde, Sea Shepherd - Pursuit on the high seas | Doku HD Reupload | ARTE, 12.10.2024, https://youtu.be/dkPzZU-Dm3E 63Ten 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/ 64Sea Shepherd - Japanese arrest whaling opponents, stern, 12.3.2010, https://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/natur/sea-shepherd-japaner-nehmen-walfanggegner-fest-3569918.html 65Paul Watson Controversial whale conservationist arrested in Greenland, 22.7.2024, https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/paul-watson-festgenommen-100.htm 66The structure of the government, https://old.visitfaroeislands.com/de/ueber-die-faeroeer-inseln/die-struktur-der-regierung/ 67Campaigns in the Faroe Islands - Sea Shepherd, https://sea-shepherd.de/kampagnen/kampagnen-auf-den-faroer-inseln/ 68Sea Shepherd, https://sea-shepherd.de/kampagnen/kampagnen-auf-den-faroer-inseln/ 69cpwfgermany - The Faroe Islands and Denmark must stop the grindagrap! https://www.instagram.com/cpwfgermany/reel/DAB0PNqNs8P/ 70Sabine 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 71Patrick Ruppelt, in Held braucht deine Hilfe, Wo Sinne und Verstand aufeinander treffen, 17.11.202,4, https://paddys.de/ein-held-braucht-deine-hilfe/
