Captain Paul Watson
Interview With a Pirate
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The behind-the-scenes true story of Paul Watson, the world's most famous eco-pirate and marine animal rights activist. Paul Watson became an animal rights activist at the young age of eleven, in 1962. When trappers killed a beaver that Paul had befriended, he systematically and efficiently located and destroyed their traps. This was the beginning of fifty years of animal rights activism. Among the international awards and recognition he has earned in that time, Time Magazine named Watson one of the top twenty environmental heroes of the 20th century. In 1969, when just eighteen, Watson co-founded Greenpeace. He was also the first man to intervene between a whale and a harpoon. Watson left Greenpeace to establish the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which uses more aggressive direct-action strategies to combat threats to the world's ocean creatures. With a goal
of protection and conservation of marine mammals, their first priority is ending the illegal hunting of seals and whales. In Antarctica, Japanese whalers kill hundreds of whales each year. To circumvent the moratorium on commercial whaling, Tokyo disguises their whaling under the cover of scientific programs. Yet the environmental movement got results: Japanese whalers, who intended to kill 850 minke whales, returned with only 507 whales in 2010. The International Court of Justice was asked to require Japan to end this whaling program, and the campaigns have included sinking ten illegal whaling ships, ramming more at sea, confiscating hundreds of long lines and drift nets and making more than 250 expeditions worldwide to save hundreds of thousands of marine animals. Captain Watson, though fighting for a good cause, is labeled by some as a "pirate" and an "eco-terrorist," including those running Greenpeace today. But for those who think that petitions and
banners will not be enough to save the ocean, he is a hero. To all his detractors, Paul Watson responds, "Find us a...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Captain Paul Watson is he a pirate, eco-terrorist, or hero? In this interview with Lamya Essemlali, executive director of Sea Shepherd France, Watson reveals his passions, struggles, frustrations, and concerns for the future. Identified by Time magazine as one of the greatest 20th century ecologists, Watson is likely the world's best-known champion of the oceans because of his work in defending and protecting marine life like whales, seals, sharks and porpoises. He believes that fishing is the most ecologically destructive activity on the planet. As captain of the Sea Shepherd, he has used aggressive, direct-action tactics against those who threaten the existence of these animals, through illegally hunting, capture or mass slaughter. Watson has confronted governments and industrial fishing fleets from many nations, disrupting their activities by cutting nets, rescuing illegal catches, and acting as a human shield. His drive to protect the oceans is fuelled by his concern for the sustainability of life on Earth if current resource management practices continue. He believes that biocentrism, which recognizes the interdependence of all species, urgently needs to replace our current human-centered focus. The book serves up a smorgasbord of anecdotes, explanations and justifications that provide ample food for thought for any ecologically conscious individual pondering our future. North American Distribution: Firefly books