SEA SHEPHERD LOG NO. 702012 – 2013

fect on dugong and turtle populations through loss of sea grasshabitat, their food source. The 1,400 massive tankers coming inand out of the port would have brought with them noise pollu-tion and whale fatalities. The project would have also seen thedestruction of 130 million-year-old dinosaur footprints, somethe biggest in the world, which scientists are calling for the en-tire unique 80 km of dinosaur coast to be marked for world her-

itage protection. The dinosaur coast is inter-twined with the song line and culture of theGoolarabooloo people.

The entire project was mired in contro-versy. The WA EPA screening process camedown to an unprecedented one-person deci-sion, due to conflicts of interest with the

other board members. Woodside also wrote to the WA govern-ment asking it to withdraw written advice about the possibleexistence of significant aboriginal sites in areas disturbed by itsproposed gas hub. Any damage to the sites, which is integral toan important aboriginal mens’ song cycle, could leave the re-source giant and its directors liable for criminal prosecution un-der the state’s Aboriginal Heritage Act. A governmentspokesman confirmed that the WA Barnett government suc-cumbed to Woodside’s wishes and withdrew the letters.

There were alternatives to having that gas hub at JamesPrice Point that are far more financially viable and will benefitall parties involved including Woodside, they include either pip-ing the gas down to the Pilbara or using Shells floating LNGtechnology. City Group estimated that there would be an in-creased benefit to the shareholders of between 2 and 15 billiondollars if they moved the project. This gas hub could go someplace else, but these humpback whales and their nursery couldnot. The Kimberley is one of the world’s last great naturalwilderness areas and is of global significance and concern. Pro-tecting the Kimberley and the world’s largest humpback nurs-ery is a far greater legacy to leave behind than some environ-mentally destructive gas hub. Sea Shepherd’s involvement withOperation Kimberley Miinimbi took the issue from a local to anational and international level.

As a result in working with other environmental groups,Save the Kimberley, Environs Kimberley and Wilderness So-ciety, on Friday 12th, April 2013, Woodside Petroleum an-nounced that it was scrapping its plans for its controversial$45 billion onshore gas hub at James Price Point! There wasa harmonious sigh of relief and joy as the humpbacks maketracks from their summer feeding grounds to their winter calv-ing grounds o! the Kimberley coast. The whales’ nursery andhome is now safe. Here shows a classic example of a win/winfor all parties involved.

by Je! Hansen, Australia Director

I n response to an invitation from Goolarabooloo senior lawbosses, Sea Shepherd launched Operation Kimberley Mi-

inimbi in an e!ort to protect the humpback whales o! theWest Australian (WA) coast. Former Australian Greens leader,Bob Brown and Australian Director Je! Hansen co-led the cam-paign. Woodside Petroleum and the WA Barnett Governmentwere leading the push to build the world’s largest gas hubplaced right through the middle of the world’s largest hump-back whale nursery in a place called James Price Point (Wal-madan), just 60 km north of Broome, WA. The joint venturepartners were Shell, BHP Billiton, BP, Mitsui and Mitsubishi.Woodside’s so called “most significant humpback whale studyever undertaken in Western Australia” claimed that “o! JamesPrice Point, the bulk of the migration occurs in waters approxi-mately 30 km from the mainland, with less than 5% of hump-back whales travelling within 8 km of the coast.”

Operation Kimberley Miinimbi found this statementto be completely false.

As Captain Malcolm Holland sailed the Steve Irwin fromBroome to James Price Point during Operation Kimberley Mi-inimbi, up to 108 whales were counted each day in the Wal-madan area o! James Price Point, all well within 8 km of thecoast. An average of 15% of those sightings were of motherand calf pairs. On a number of occasions, Sea Shepherd wit-nessed mothers nursing and caring for their calves less than akilometre from the proposed gas site. Sea Shepherd saw withour own eyes that, this is a huge whale nursery and the num-bers put forward by Woodside were incorrect.

The impact of the development would be felt across manylevels, with a vast area of seabed being destroyed throughdredging, for the port, that would have had a catastrophic af-

This is a tremendous victory for everyone that stood to loseso much if this project went ahead in one of the last greatwilderness areas left on the planet. Sea Shepherd would like tothank all of our supporters who have made this victory for thewhales possible. Special thanks to philanthropist Graeme Wood,esteemed businessman Geo!rey Cousins, musicians XavierRudd, John Butler and Missy Higgins, Labor Federal Member forFremantle, Melissa Parke and Greens Senators Christine Milneand Rachel Siewert for standing up for the Kimberley. Sea Shep-herd knows that this campaign would not have been possiblewithout one of the world’s greatest environmentalist of ourtime, so a very heartfelt thank you must go to our fearless cam-paign leader Bob Brown and his partner Captain Paul Watson.

“On announcing Operation Kimberley Miinimbi, manypeople believed that there was no hope in stopping this project– that it was a David and Goliath struggle and we could not winthis. This victory shows that no matter what the odds, no matterwhat the risks, no matter how well equipped, funded and gov-ernment backed your opponents are, you must never give in,must never surrender, you must fight for what is right, becausethe one thing that is worth fighting for on our beautiful planet,is life,” said Captain Watson.

Campaign Leader Bob Brown had this to say, “It is now es-sential that the 1.3 billion dollar payment to the traditionalowners from exploiting the browse basin gas be guaranteedeven though the processing is likely to occur 400 km o! thecoast. This is great news, Sea Shepherd and I are calling forWorld Heritage assessment in conjunction with traditionalowners of the Kimberley region”.

We will leave the final words to Sea Shepherd founder, Cap-tain Paul Watson in his acceptance letter in response to the in-vitation from the Goolarabooloo senior law bosses he wrote:“Thank you for your invitation that we accept in the spirit ofeternal friendship with a promise to stand in unity with theGoolarabooloo to defend the beauty and sacredness of thiswondrous environment. For our oceans and for life.”

Operation Kimberley Miinimbi Crew

OPERATIONKIMBERLEY MIINIMBI

2012

The Nisshin Maru rams the Bob Barker into the fuel tanker Sun Laurelduring Operation Zero Tolerance. Read more on page 2.The Nisshin Maru rams the Bob Barker into the fuel tanker Sun Laurelduring Operation Zero Tolerance. Read more on page 2.

© Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Australia© Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Australia

by Captain Siddharth Chakravarty

O peration Zero Tolerance saw many records being broken-it took the Steve Irwin’s crew 135 days at sea and over

23,000 nautical miles to save the lives of more than 900 whales,making this Sea Shepherd’s longest, most travelled and most suc-cessful Whale Defence Campaign ever.

The Steve Irwin departed quietly from Australia on the 5th of No-vember 2012, seven weeks earlier than usual, with a mission tohead north closer to Japan to confront the whaling fleet in their wa-ters. The crew worked tirelessly to prepare the ship for the long bat-tle ahead, pressed for time and resources. Once at sea, we waitedfor an o"cial departure announcement from the Institute ofCetacean Research to plan the next move. While we waited, wewere joined by Captain Paul Watson appearing on his flagship tostun the world and the whalers- they had tried everything to shuthim down and yet here he was announcing his intention to inter-vene against the illegal whaling operations while the whalers werestill in port! Taken aback by the return of Captain Paul Watson, thewhaling fleet didn’t depart until the end of December- we werewinning already in making December a kill-free month.

In early January, the Bob Barker and Brigitte Bardot joined theSteve Irwin and the three ships began their journey down to theSouthern Ocean. For the first time in 12 months, the ships wereback in sight of one another, repaired, with full fuel tanks and

crewed by eager and passionate activists. Once down in the South-ern Ocean, the ships parted ways and began searching for thewhaling fleet. When the Brigitte Bardot spotted the Yushin Maru 3at the boundary of the Southern Ocean, it was clear for the firsttime in history with Sea Shepherd on watch not a single whalewould be harpooned in the month of January.

The young, fast and extremely manoeuvrable Sam Simon foundthe refuelling tanker south of the Tasman Sea in early February andwe knew that sooner or later the whaling fleet would have to meetwith the refuelling ship in order to continue whaling. Some clevermanoeuvring by the Steve Irwin allowed her to hold up three whal-ing vessels at once. We chased a harpoon ship away from the whal-ing grounds for over 14 hours and managed to entangle the YushinMaru 3 and the Shonan Maru 2, keeping them from moving closerto the factory vessel and any whaling operations. Two-thirds of theharpoon ships, the Yushin Maru and the Yushin Maru 3, were in thewhaling grounds but rendered ine!ective with their harpoons cov-ered and forced to run in the wrong direction by the Steve Irwin.

Once the Bob Barker had found the Nisshin Maru, the Steve Irwinmoved in to assist her in guarding the slipway. The Steve Irwin and theBob Barker together fended o! numerous days of whaling by combin-ing forces- small boats and helicopter to distract the whaling fleet.

Joined by the Sam Simon soon after that, the three Sea Shepherdships took on six bigger, stronger and faster whaling fleet vesselsand successfully fended o! three days of illegal refuelling attempts.

The courage, bravery, passion and dedication to the cause that

the crews of all the ships displayed was exemplary. The embold-ened whaling fleet definitely put our resolve to test and repeatedlyrammed and damaged our ships, but I am proud that with pound-ing hearts and sweaty palms we stood our ground and ensured thatwe shut them down. After escorting the Nisshin Maru and the restof the whaling fleet out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary inearly March, the Steve Irwin headed home to Australia. The victorycould not have been any sweeter because in our hearts we knewthat hundreds of majestic whales would freely swim north alongthe same route, having been spared a gruesome death and nowwith a fair chance to survive freely in their oceans.

Crewmember of the Year - Pablo WatsonPablo Watson is the 2nd Engi-

neer on board the Steve Irwin.When I first met this young en-gineer, I was quickly amused byhis jovial demeanour and hisjest for a cup of co!ee. Whatstood out from that very firstmeeting was his love for ma-chines, engines and the lathe-machine. I would see himsweaty, greasy and dirty but always happy and always at work.Pablo worked tirelessly through Operation Divine Wind when theSteve Irwin needed to run e"ciently at all times chasing the whal-ing fleet. Through the lay-up in 2012, Pablo worked in the engineroom of the Steve Irwin and this ensured that when we needed tokick-o! Operation Zero Tolerance, the engines were tuned,purring and ready to be run rigorously. On Operation Zero Toler-ance again, Pablo’s contribution shone through. He worked along-side the Chief Engineer with his optimistic outlook and whenthings looked bleak, he was there to make us smile. He was alsothe Steve Irwin’s designated diver and in his free time, he helpedon deck with welding and fabrication, and during the confronta-tions he put on his mustang suit and was kitted-ready to help asneeded. Pablo definitely is a colleague and an engineer I would goout to sea with anytime and for all his hard work he deserves to bethe crewmember of the year.

by Captain Peter Hammarstedt

O peration Zero Tolerance started o! with a bang, orrather, the absence of a bang, when the Bob Barker suc-

cessfully intercepted the Nisshin Maru before a single harpoonwas fired for the whaling season. Unfortunately, rough weatherresulted in the Bob Barker losing the whaling fleet on radar. Butthe fleet had been found earlier than ever before, its harpoonships scattered, and once again the whalers were on the run fromSea Shepherd.

Two weeks and over 2,500 nautical miles later, we relocated theNisshin Maru, together with the harpoon ship Yushin Maru No. 2, inCooperation Sea; meaning that the whaling fleet had been runningnonstop from Sea Shepherd, leaving little time for whaling.Weather conditions were optimal for whaling and it was clear,based on the Nisshin Maru drifting, that the whalers were waitingfor first light to start their bloody business. For several hours, theNisshin Maru attempted to lose the Bob Barker, but to no avail. Withweather conditions perfect for small boat operations, the BobBarker would not lose the Nisshin Maru a second time, becoming apermanent fixture on the slipway of the factory ship.

It was inevitable that the whalers would kill at least one whale,to test the resolve and steadfastness of the Bob Barker crew. For sixwhole hours, the Bob Barker blocked a whale transfer attempt inseveral close quarter situations with the Nisshin Maru and the YushinMaru No. 2. After twelve attempts, and subsequent an attemptedramming of the Bob Barker by the Nisshin Maru, the whale was fi-nally winched on board the factory ship, but the blocking e!ort hadits intended e!ect – it was not worth it to whale under theguardianship of the Sea Shepherd crew.

Ten days later and still the whalers had not resumed whaling,although it was now clear that they would try to refuel illegallyfrom the tanker vessel Sun Laurel. Knowing that stopping the re-fuel was a surefire way to end the whaling season early the BobBarker, together with the Steve Irwin and the Sam Simon, madeevery e!ort to prevent the fuel transfer from happening. In thecourse of blocking the refueling attempt, the Bob Barker was de-liberately struck several times by the much larger Nisshin Maru.

At one stage, the Nisshin Maru attempted to push the BobBarker out of the way from blocking the refueling point of the SunLaurel. The maneuvers of the Nisshin Maru were so reckless thatthe anchor of the factory whaling ship even struck the wheel-house of the Bob Barker, destroying three communication masts,one radar and the starboard running lights; at the same timehigh-powered water cannons aimed at the main engine exhaustfunnel flooded the engine room. Not until the Bob Barker put outa mayday distress call, did the Nisshin Maru abort its dangerousactions that could have resulted in loss of power, propulsion andstability for the Bob Barker.

On a second refueling attempt, the Nisshin Maru sandwichedthe Bob Barker between itself and the tanker vessel, with severalcollisions resulting. The collisions caused substantial damage tothe helicopter deck, forward starboard plating and the galley waspushed inboard by several inches. Seeing the damage caused tothe Bob Barker, and convinced of the fact that Sea Shepherdwould not deviate from position, the Nisshin Maru aborted all fu-ture plans to refuel.

Since our first Antarctic Campaign, Sea Shepherd has made it clearto the whaling fleet that the only way to stop us is to sink us. Thisyear’s Antarctic Campaign was an opportunity to actually put the

whalers to that test and to showthem that zero tolerance of anywhales being killed in a designatedwhale sanctuary means just that – whaling will absolutely not be tol-erated on Sea Shepherd’s watch.

Crewmember of the year - Josephine WatmoreJosephine ‘Jo’ Watmore first

joined Sea Shepherd as acrewmember on board theBrigitte Bardot, while the vesselwas in desperate need of a cookto crew on an ocean-going pas-sage from Belgium to Australiato prepare for Operation Di-vine Wind.

Jo would serve as chief cookon board the Brigitte Bardot until a terrifying rogue wave in theSouthern Ocean badly damaged the portside pontoon of the stabi-lized monohull. The Bob Barker was dispatched to come to the aidof the stricken Brigitte Bardot and it was in the course of that rescuee!ort that Jo was transferred over to the Bob Barker. The BrigitteBardot’s loss was the Bob Barker’s gain as Jo immediately volun-teered to continue on campaign by transitioning into a senior rolein the Bob Barker galley.

What amazes me about Jo is not just her courage but her in-credible work ethic. The role of Chief Cook is arguably the mostimportant position on the ship – paramount to crew morale. It isno easy task to provision a vessel for three months at sea, ensur-ing that the dietary and nutritional needs are met for eachcrewmember. No matter the weather, the Bob Barker galley hasto put out three meals a day, for thirty-five whale defenders, andJo bears burn marks on her arms and hands, battle scars no lessgallant than the lost paint on the hull of the Bob Barker. Jo carriesout every task, no matter how seemingly insurmountable, with-out complaint and Jo’s beautiful singing voice is as beneficial tocrew morale as her culinary skills.

WHALE DEFENSE CAMPAIGN 2012-13

OPERATION

M/Y STEVE IRWIN

M/Y BOB BARKER

Nisshin Maru fires water cannons at the Steve Irwin’ssmoke stack hoping to flood engines

Nisshin Maru fires water cannons at the Steve Irwin’ssmoke stack hoping to flood engines

© Tim Watters / Sea Shepherd Australia

© Sea Shepherd/Glenn Lockitch

© Sea Shepherd

2

by Captain Luis Manuel Pinho

I started Operation Zero Tolerance as Captain of the BrigitteBardot, in Los Angeles. Soon, I was on the mysterious Sam

Simon, and an unexpected turn of events saw me as Captain ofthis awesome ship. The Sam Simon proved to be a reliable, fuel-e"cient ship. This was fundamental for Operation Zero Toler-ance. We were able to search vast portions of ocean for thetanker, Sun Laurel, and once found, we could follow themthrough all their attempts to shake us o!; either by running ran-domly at 11 knots to every point of the compass for days in ane!ort to run us out of fuel, or powering blindly through a darkocean full of icebergs and growlers. With its almost brand newmachinery, extremely strong hull and seaworthy design, theSam Simon is nearly unstoppable, and our presence proved to bea very disrupting factor in the whaling fleet operation this year.

With three big ships plus the Bardot, Operation Zero Toler-ance was flawlessly planned and executed. The Sea Shepherdcrews used all our combined experience and seamanship tosearch for, locate, and seriously limit the e!ectiveness of thewhaling fleet in Antarctica. Even when one of our ships was notdirectly with the factory ship, Nisshin Maru, the fact that wewere in hot pursuit kept them running west at high speeds, un-able to stop and process whales, which stopped the killing for allof January and February. With their late departure at the end ofDecember, we can say that the aim of Operation Zero Toler-ance, zero kills, was practically achieved.

The Sam Simon located Sun Laurel on February 6th, only re-leasing it from visual or radar range on the 3rd of March. For 25,days we followed them 4,200 nautical miles. And what hap-pened in between those miles were some of the most intense

confrontations in all the nine years that Sea Shepherd ships wentto the icy waters o! Antarctica. The Sam Simon was intentionallyrammed by the Nisshin Maru with great violence once, followinganother less dramatic ramming just days before.

The ramming happened during the last attempt the whalingfleet made to refuel the Nisshin Maru, on the 25th of March2013. After coming very close just minutes before and blastingthe Sam Simon with water cannons, causing widespread dam-age, the Nisshin Maru repeated the pass along the port side ofthe Sam Simon, but this time they decided to try the ultimate in-timidation, and collided at 9 knots with our port side and sternquarter, buckling our bulwarks, several rails and deck surfacesand destroying our communications tower. We kept our course,having right of way, and in this way delayed their approach tothe Bob Barker which was positioned to block the refueling at-tempt. The e!ect was definitive, the whaling fleet being con-vinced that all of the Sea Shepherd ships were going to standtheir ground. They moved away and never made another at-tempt to refuel while our fleet was present.

This practically ended their season, and despite heavily dam-aged ships, the Sea Shepherd fleet couldturn back after achieving the best ever re-sults in nine years of presence in theAntarctic. My crew and I are deeply movedby the generosity of Sam Simon (co-creatorof The Simpsons), who made it possible forus to have this superb tool to defend andsave the lives of innocent, unsuspectingcreatures. I am honored to have beentrusted by Sea Shepherd Australia with thecommand of such a great ship and crew.My final word goes to them, thecrewmembers, who served the whaleswithout complaints or regrets and made itall possible. Thank you all!

by Captain Simon Ager

I t was a year of anticipation for the crew of the Brigitte Bardot,after the false start of last year and Divine Wind. We were all

anxious to make it down south to the ice and take the lead on thecampaign.

There were some exceptional moments, and some heart-stopping moments. Navigating the weather is always a challengeand a skill, taking a vessel through weather and seas for whichshe is not designed. A couple of days that brought back memo-ries of last year, five to six meter swells and rogue waves, thebow of the ship reaching skyward before plummeting into thefoaming crevasse below, the seas always threatening to deny theBardot once again.

The exceptional moments saw for the first time all ships to-gether in a stunning landscape of ice pans, icebergs, sunburntskies and humpbacks. As we waited for the whale poachers to ar-rive, this allowed for some sightseeing, to take in the majesty ofthis pristine wonderland, to contemplate on why we are all here,

Sam Simon Added to the Fleetby Captain Locky MacLean

In June I was tasked with purchasing Sea Shepherd’s latestvessel. The most suitable ship for our needs, a 56-meter ice-strengthened Government vessel, happened to be in Japan,berthed alongside the whaling fleet in Shimonoseki Port. Be-longing previously to the Japan Meteorological Agency’s MaizuruObservatory, and built in 1993, the Sam Simon was purchased forunder 2 million US dollars, re-registered in Tuvalu, South Pacificand delivered to Sea Shepherd in Queensland, Australia by aJapanese crew. It was then refitted and reflagged in Cairns andBrisbane, Australia and renamed. A small, dedicated crew of vet-erans and newcomers made the preparation of the ship for theZero Tolerance campaign a reality. In fact, we took possession ofthe ship in September, with all the machinery and controls stilllabelled in Japanese! Refitting work commenced in Cairns, con-tinued at drydock in Brisbane, until finally the Sam arrived in Ho-bart, where she was o"cially unveiled.

Crewmember of the Year - Gabor NostyFirstly, Sam Simon himself

needs to be thanked. Sam is theAmerican television producer andanimal welfare campaigner whodonated the necessary funds tomake the purchase possible.Without the good ship SamSimon, the whalers’ returning toport with less than 10% of theirself-allocated kill quota wouldnot have been possible.

Each and every crewmember selected to join the Sam Simonthis year played a major role in making this ship’s participation inOperation Zero Tolerance a reality. There is, however, acrewmember whose special skills and hard work allowed theship to meet the critical deadlines for repairs and modificationsthat made the Sam Simon’s participation in the campaign a suc-cess. The crewmember of the year award on board the SamSimon for 2012-2013 goes to Gabor Nosty. Hailing from East Ger-many and residing on his sailing boat in the South Pacific withhis partner Isolde, Gabor, as Second Engineer, made countlessmodifications and improvements to the ship and he broughtaboard his decades of experience in metal work and engineeringat a time when his skills were an absolute necessity. Gabor’s calmand collected nature, kind disposition and problem-solving qual-ities ensured optimism on board, leaving no doubt the shipwould be ready for campaign. Gabor will be missed on the Sam!Thank you for being such a great crewmember Gabor!

and even have a small adventurestepping onto some ice pans!

It wasn’t long after this thatwe made first contact with the

whaling fleet, what we had hoped in the early hours ofdarkness was the Nisshin Maru turned out to be theYushin No. 3 harpoon vessel. This was now one harpoonvessel out of the game and no whales would be killed.The days that followed saw the Yushin No. 3 attempt-ing to lead us into the heavy ice and damage ourprops. A game of cat and mouse ensued each leadingthe other this way and that.

A few days later an engine issue made the Bardotretreat from the campaign to Hobart. It was promptlyfixed, but with a whaling fleet moving ever furtherwest and away from us, some 2,000 miles, by the timewe were ready to leave, we would have not caught up.

With heavy hearts the crew of the Bardot watchedfrom the sidelines as our other vessels engaged in the most ac-tive and successful campaign to date.

I think there is always a place for the Brigitte Bardot on theWhale Campaign. The important thing is knowing her limits,when to push it and when to back o!.

For now, the crew of the Bardot can reflect on making it downSouth, tasting some of the victory having found the Yushin No. 3and make ready for duty wherever that may be.Crewmember of the Year - Brian Race

My choice for crewmember of the year is Chief Engineer BrianRace. Brian joined the Bardot from the Steve Irwin for a shark de-fense campaign in the South Pacific in 2012. I have always heldBrian in the highest regard. He brings onboard a wealth of engi-neering experience and knowledge. A work ethic second to noneand attention to detail; quite the MacGyver, his creativity andproblem-solving has got us out of a bind on more than one occa-sion. He is full of energy and enthusiasm and is always ready tohelp in any way around the vessel, and most of all, if a job needs

doing he just gets it done!Whether in port or at sea on the Steve Irwin, he can always be

relied on to assist our ship when we need it. Really good Chief En-gineers are hard to come by, and it is Brian’s sheer professionalismand commitment to the cause that sets the bar so very high. Workaside, Brian is just a really genuine guy, good heart, an amusingsense of humor, a lot of patience(something I could learn from)and always a willingness to teachand pass on what he knows. Iknow Brian hates me saying thankyou many times over for his help,so this is just one big thank you forall those times! I sincerely lookforward to sailing on future cam-paigns with him.

M/Y BRIGITTE BARDOT

M/Y SAM SIMON

Nisshin Maru lines-up the Sam SimonNisshin Maru lines-up the Sam Simon

Japanese whaling fleet’s harpoon vessel, Yushin Maru No. 2,with a slaughtered minke whale in Mackenzie Bay

© Giacomo Cosua / Sea Shepherd Australia

© Sea Shepherd / Simon Ager

© Sea Shepherd

© Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd Australia

3

by Melissa Sehgal,Cove Guardian Campaign Leader

O peration Infinite Patiencecompleted its third season in

Taiji, Japan on March 8th, 2013, after thedolphin killers ended their drive huntseason early on February 20th.

Dolphins and small whales continuedto be slaughtered in Taiji, but the amount ofdolphins taken into captivity quadrupled fromthe previous season to 251. Again proving thatthis is far from tradition and culture but more ofprofit and greed.

Police surveillance was tighter than previous seasons andwe saw an increase in tactics to try to prevent Cove Guardiansfrom tracking captive transfers and dolphin meat processing. Asmore volunteers were on the ground, so were the police. The TaijiFisherman’s Union, dolphin trainers, police, and locals do not wantSea Shepherd present in their little town. The answer to that isquite simple - stop slaughtering innocent sentient beings and wewill leave. Taiji is still attempting to hide from the public eye that

they kill dolphins. However, more tarps, more barriers and morepolice will not stop the truth from being exposed.

This season brought a more global awareness through socialmedia outlets, along with the addition of our livestream coverageof every dolphin drive hunt and slaughter. People around the worldwere able to view the horrific bloody scenes of the slaughter as if

they were standing on the front lineswith the Cove Guardians. This seasonalso brought more awareness and sup-port from within Japan. Severaldemonstrations in Tokyo were held tovoice against the dolphin and whaleslaughter. Sixty volunteers travelled to Taiji from 16 di!erent countries – including Japan - to helpdocument and expose the slaughters.

There are more people in the world who care about dolphins than people who want to eat themor pay to see them tormented at dolphinariums. More global pressure on Taiji to evolve and endtheir barbaric dolphin drives is inevitable. Patience and strength in numbers will only bring moreawareness for change.

To join the Cove Guardians in Taiji, please write to coveguardian@seashepherd.org. Sea Shep-herd will be present for our 4th season in Taiji on September 1st for the 2013-2014 drive hunt season.

2012-2013

© Sea Shepherd / Simon Ager© Sea Shepherd / Simon Ager© Sea Shepherd / Simon Ager

© Sea Shepherd

by Deborah Bassett, Reef Campaign Leader

D uring the summer of 2012, the Sea Shepherd ConservationSociety embarked upon its maiden campaign to protect

sharks throughout the South Pacific: Operation Requiem. Withcrewmembers from 10 di!erent nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada,Fiji, Germany, India, South Africa, Spain, US, and UK, Sea Shepherd’sinterceptor vessel, the Brigitte Bardot, visited five nations – Tonga,Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Kiribati and achieved severalmajor successes along the way.

Partnering with the international non-profit, Shark Angels, thecampaign combined educational outreach and strategic partner-ship building with maritime law enforcement. Throughout these is-land nations, the team led educational visits to remote villages inorder to speak to school children and local leaders about the needto protect the oceans and shark populations, rallied local NGO andgovernmental support for shark sanctuaries, built collaborative re-lationships with educators and government o"cials, and patrolledthe waters of one of the South Pacific’s largest marine reserves. Thecampaign also included a monumental partnership with the Pacific

Voyagers Foundation through an in-novative cultural exchange that al-lowed for crewmembers from Fiji andVanuatu to participate in the multi-faceted campaign.

The awareness building and edu-cational outreach component of thecampaign reached thousands of localcitizens in remote areas with the hardfacts about the current crisis facingshark populations and the criticalneed for conservation e!orts in theregion. Hundreds of workbooks weredistributed to students and educatorsalong with the opportunity for schoolchildren to experience the local ma-

rine life firsthand through underwater excursions and workshops. In Tonga, members of the core team met with the Minister of

Labour, Commerce & Tourism to award the Prime Minister of Tongawith the “Shepherd of the Sea”, award in recognition of the Govern-ment’s long-standing commitment and stewardship of the SouthPacific Whale Sanctuary and overall excellence in marine conserva-tion. During the visit to Tonga, Sea Shepherd crewmembers wereo!ered the once in a lifetime opportunity to free dive with some ofour largest clients, the great humpback whales who migrate tolocal waters each year from the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd concluded the final leg of Operation Requiem inKiribati, where the crew of the Brigitte Bardot was able to enforceand protect one of the world’s largest marine reserves. The first en-forcement collaboration of its kind in the South Pacific, Sea Shep-herd was honored to partner with the nation of Kiribati to addressillegal fishing and reverse the decline of the shark population inPhoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). Working with the Ministryof Fisheries, Maritime Police and PIPA Director, Sea Shepherd as-sisted in the surveillance and enforcement of PIPA, a marine pro-tected area covering more than 107,000 square miles. Throughdirect intervention, the crew of the Brigitte Bardot was able to stopillegal fishing activities by boarding and monitoring vessels capa-ble of carrying 7,000 tons of fish. The government of Kiribatipraised Sea Shepherd for its support of these much needed en-forcement e!orts.

Further victory from Operation Requiem included laying thegroundwork for long term initiatives in the South Pacific, includingthe potential future establishment of locally protected marine areasin three countries. Sea Shepherd has worked with many govern-ments around the world to protect global shark populations, such asthe long history of successful collaboration with the government ofEcuador in the Galapagos Islands, in which Sea Shepherd has con-tributed more than one million Euros towards the acquisition of apatrol boat, the installation of vessel identification systems, training,enforcement, a team of fin-sni"ng patrol dogs, and legal supportfor prosecution. Operation Requiem proved that similar conserva-tion e!orts could e!ectively be carried in the South Pacific.

OPERATIONREQUIEM

OPERATIONREQUIEM

© Sea Shepherd© Sea Shepherd

4

by Rosie Kunnekeand Dinielle Stöckigt,Operation Desert Sealcrewmembers

Operation Desert Seal re-turned to Namibia for the

second time in 2012 to fightagainst the cruel clubbing of 86,000 baby seals. After thecrew had to flee the country in 2011 and Sea Shepherd wasdeclared “enemies of the state,” we knew that we wouldhave to approach this year di!erently and with new tech-nology. The Namibian government spends millions of dollarson security around the Cape Cross seal colony including pri-vate security for the sealers, police escorts and navy vesselspatrolling the waters around Cape Cross. This year the planwas to obtain footage of the clubbing by using unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV) technology. The Namibian governmentmade it illegal to take footage of anything related to theseal clubbing and therefore we knew we would have to op-erate unseen. The best way to stay out of sight in Namibia isto live and operate from the vast and harsh Namib Desert.

Namibia’s Desert is a tough and unforgiving place, hometo ever-changing sand dunes and winds that can fill yourlungs with sand if you don’t cover your mouth with somekind of cloth. Namib Desert means “place of no people” inthe local KhoiKhoi language. But this was our home forweeks. Our home was not the normal camping site as otherpeople might see it. No, the desert became our basecampwhere we would plan our missions, configure our equip-ment and keep an eye on the opponent. Our opponent does

by Sandy McElhaney,Dam Guardian CampaignVolunteer

O n March 15, 2012, the statesof Oregon, Washington, and

Idaho, received authorization from theNational Marine Fisheries Services, thefederal agency charged with the re-sponsibility of protecting marinemammals, to kill up to 92 Californiasea lions annually through June 2016.The sea lions, who under normal cir-cumstances would be safeguarded by

the Marine Mammal Protection Act, are being executed for thecrime of consuming endangered salmon on the ColumbiaRiver near the Bonneville Dam.

Sea lions have lived on the Columbia River since at leastthe time of the 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition when theirpresence was first documented. In recent years, more than athousand of these jovial “sea dogs” have been hot branded incruel squeeze cages at Oregon’s Port of Astoria and the Bon-neville Dam. Sea lions identified as “salmon predators” are in-scribed on a hit list and can be killed by lethal injection orgunshot should they be observed eating salmon near the Bon-neville Dam. The sea lions eat less than 4% of the annualsalmon run. Conversely, commercial, tribal, and recreationalfishermen are encouraged to catch about 17% of the endan-gered fish. Who is the real predator here?

Recognizing that the actual problems on the ColumbiaRiver have nothing to do with sea lions, in April 2012, SeaShepherd Conservation Society established a Dam GuardianCampaign. In our first season, a crew of more than 25 DamGuardians from across the United States and Canada, was as-sembled to monitor and report on acts of barbarism thatwould be considered criminal o!enses anywhere in the

United States but here. We have observed animals beingkicked and poked with sticks by state workers. We have re-peatedly seen smoke wafting from the squeeze cage as a hotbranding iron sears through the flesh of restrained animals.These sea lions are further violated with tracking devices andtags that pierce their flippers. Tragically, we have witnessedsea lions trapped in cages and dragged o! to the deathhouse, never to be seen again.

The hazing is almost non-stop. In Astoria, workers with theOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) harass thesea lions and prevent them from resting on the docks. At thedam, sea lions face daily assaults from armed hazers who as-sault them with flash bang grenades and rubber bullets. Thebombing doesn’t just impact the sea lions, residents of neigh-boring communities complain that their dogs are afraid toeven be outside because of the dawn to dusk noise from theexplosive devices.

The depletion of the salmon run on the Columbia River canbe traced to the construction of the monster Bonneville Lockand Dam. Since 1938, the dam has provided electrical power,while destroying the natural migration path of salmon. Whenyou add in overfishing, hatchery fish who compete with thewild salmon for food, toxic contaminants, and the introduc-tion of non-native species of fish that prey on salmon, it iseasy enough to see that killing sea lions is not an e!ective so-lution to save the salmon.

Between April 2 and August 27, 2012, ODFW trapped andkilled 12 California sea lions. One additional sea lion was re-moved from the Columbia River and remains in captivity atChicago’s Shedd Aquarium. From our perspective, a life in cap-tivity is a far and dismal cry from the freedom this animal onceknew. Sea Shepherd is determined to shine a bright light onthe tax payer-funded atrocities being committed against sealions on the Columbia River. Using our cameras, our words,and the truth, we will continue to share the story of the Co-lumbia River sea lions wherever we can. We are confident thatone day the inhumane cull will end. Until then, we stand firmin our conviction that killing sea lions won’t save salmon. Wewill be here until the last squeeze cages are melted down forscrap metal. To find out how you can become a Dam Guardian,write to damguardian@seashepherd.org.

not want us to exposetheir brutal seal murder-ing ways to the worldand we will risk it all to stand up and fight forthe seals. Any task that must be completedcan become challenging fighting against theheat, sand and wind. Usually UAV’s will beconfigured and fine-tuned in clean workshopsor wind tunnels. Well, we had the wind allright, just not the tunnel part. With ga!a tapeand cardboard boxes to use as tables, the Avia-tors managed to make it work.

Our window to launch and fly the UAV’s toobtain footage was only one hour every morn-ing and weather conditions dictated whetherwe could fly or not. Even with all the adver-saries, bad weather conditions, massive secu-rity and police presence, we managed to doseveral successful flights over Cape Cross. Thecrew left Namibia as quietly as we entered,without the Namibian authorities even having the slightestidea we were there. This year’s campaign proved to us that

using UAV technology is the way forward in our fight to endthe largest seal slaughter in the world.

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

Desert Seal crew launching UAV

5

by Je! Hansen, Australia DirectorAustralians, a Force to be Reckoned with for the

Protection of Planet Ocean

S ea Shepherd continues to grow from strength tostrength Down Under, for the protection and preser-

vation of our oceans, reflecting Australia’s deep a"nitywith our beautiful coasts and precious marine life. Wecan’t thank our supporters enough for the amazing sup-port we have gained this past year.

The First Australian Based Campaign –Operation Kimberley Miinimbi

O! the back of the success of Op-eration Divine Wind, Sea ShepherdAustralia launched its first Australianbased campaign Operation Kim-berley Miinimbi, in a bid to protectthe world’s largest humpback whalenursery from the world’s largest gashub, proposed by Woodside Petro-leum and the Western Australianstate government. Leading thecharge was former Australian Greensleader and senator, Bob Brown, Cap-tain Malcolm Holland and Sea Shep-herd Director Je! Hansen. See thefull write up on the cover page re-garding the amazing success of thiscampaign.

Australian Marine Sanctuaries Congratulations to everyone who

took the time and lodged a submis-sion for the creation of marine sanc-tuaries Down Under. You can all patyourselves on the back for breaking

crew for vital marine conservation work.The Seaworks Foundation is located in the scenic

suburb of Williamstown opposite the city of Melbourne,Australia. Sea Shepherd has a massive ships operationshed, ships office and education centre within the devel-oping Seaworks maritime precinct at Williamstown andregularly berth vessels at the piers. This exciting devel-opment is the first facility of its kind in Sea Shepherdhistory and would have not been possible without thetremendous foresight of Captain Locky MacLean, workethic of multi-skilled, Donor Relations Coordinator AnnaGordon and of course executive officer of Seaworks,Therese Pritchard in her willingness to work with SeaShepherd on this exciting development. A special thanksmust go to Paul Nalin for his ongoing generosity provid-

ing skilled labour toward the project.Ground Support Bases on the Rise

Many thanks to the tireless effortsof Melbourne office staff, led by ourwonderful Administration CoordinatorJulia Ambler, the Australian chapterscontinue to grow and pop up in newlocations to help underpin our cam-paigns. Thanks to our amazing on-shore ground support volunteers,Captain Peter Hammarstedt’s pre Op-eration Zero Tolerance tour raisedenough to fuel the Steve Irwin. All inall it never ceases to amaze me howdedicated, skilled and hard workingour onshore ground support volun-teers are. I know that Sea Shepherdwould not be where it is today withoutyou! To all our donors and supporters,thank you for being a part of theWhales’ Navy and sharing in our victo-ries for Planet Ocean and the benefitof future generations.

by Michael Lawry, New Zealand Coordinator

T he last twelve months have been Sea Shepherd NZ’sbusiest and most successful year ever! We’ve had

multiple ship visits, events and stalls across the country. Fol-lowing Captain Paul Watson’s detainment in Germany, SeaShepherd NZ staged several protests outside the GermanConsulate in Auckland and Embassy in Wellington. We alsohad a great representation for Sea Shepherd atJapan Dolphin’s Day protest outside the JapaneseConsulate.

It was excellent to see such a huge response in-ternationally for our neglected Maui’s dolphins(only 55 remaining) after a number of articles onthe Sea Shepherd website with thousands of sub-missions made to the government demanding aban on gill nets. The centre right national lead gov-ernment continues to employ delaying tactics,shows little interest in conservation and insteadsupports short term economic gain pushed by thepowerful NZ seafood industry.

On a similar note, many people are surprised tolearn shark finning is still legal in NZ waters.Sea Shepherd NZ has joined forces with other groupsunder the NZ Shark Alliance, putting the Govern-ment on the back foot and receiving huge public andpolitical support. We continue to raise awarenessaround this issue and will be asking for further inter-national support to end this senseless practice.

The Sea Shepherd Auckland Chapter workedextremely hard over the winter months to organ-ise our annual fundraiser that took place in No-vember. It was a fantastic night and great to hearCaptain Peter Hammarstedt and Je! Hansenspeak, along with Howie Cooke from Surfers forCetaceans and Gareth Hughes from the GreenParty. Thanks to all the performers, artists and

Wellington and the Taranaki Street Wharf. We ran free shiptours for three weeks with great success. Again, Wellingtonshowed its Sea Shepherd love and Mandy and Mike Cole-man, along with the local volunteers, put in some bighours to keep up with the demand. And they haven’tstopped since with the Wellington Chapter positively hum-ming with activity and stalls including hosting the iconic“Pirate Party” at the start of March.

Next was Auckland’s turn and in mid-December theBrigitte Bardot was the first Sea Shepherd vessel to visit inten years! It received a fantastic welcome at Auckland’sViaduct and the local chapter ran free ship tours for four

days. More great support from the local commu-nity and businesses! The Bardot left Auckland mid-December and visited Wellington on its way south,and for the first time we had two Sea Shepherdvessels in one NZ port!

We re-established our Christchurch Chapterafter the devastating earthquakes with newChristchurch Coordinator Jono Townsend. Jono hascrewed on the Bob Barker and one of his first taskswas to help out the Steve Irwin when it visitedTimaru for resupply in early January.

As Shepherd NZ continues to grow, we arepleased to announce Anna Cochrane (ex-Christchurch Coordinator) as our first ever NZEvents Coordinator and she’s doing a fantastic joband implementing some great new innovations.Also great to see long time Wellington OnshoreVolunteer Tim Evetts becoming the Steve Irwin’sCommunications O"cer for Operation Zero Toler-ance. Well done, Tim. Onshore Volunteer Bill Fosterfrom Marlborough has established our first-everSea Shepherd “pop-up” shop in Picton to cater forthe growing cruise liner market. Great idea, Bill!We have even more positive changes planned for2013, including new chapters and fundraising ini-tiatives. Our volunteer base continues to grow andwe look forward to doing our bit for Sea Shepherdin building awareness and support.

Australia

New Zealand

Sydney Chapter

The Bob Barker in Wellington, New Zealand

Auckland ChapterAuckland Chapter

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

Sydney Chapter

Melbourne ChapterMelbourne Chapter

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

businesses that got behind this to easily make this ourmost successful fundraiser ever! It was fantastic to see theSea Shepherd NZ onshore volunteers along with veterancrewmembers from all over NZ (and AU!) come togetherfor this event.

At the start of December, Dave Rastovich (Surfers forCetaceans and veteran Sea Shepherd crew) was welcomedto Piha Beach, Auckland after his epic 350 km sea-paddleall the way from Taranaki, to raise awareness for Maui’sdolphins and the proposed sea bed mining on our westcoast. Sea Shepherd was there showing our support.

In early December 2012, the Bob Barker returned to

the record for the number of submissions received for anycampaign of this type. Your powerful, emotive and factualsubmissions resulted in the Gillard government creatingthe world’s biggest marine reserves network. These areasinclude Australia’s South West region, o! the coast ofWestern Australia, which is home to one half of theworld’s whale and dolphin species and a higher level ofunique marine life than the Great Barrier Reef.

Ships Operation Base Launched –Williamstown, Melbourne

Sea Shepherd Australia has entered into a five-yearlease with the Seaworks Foundation. This collaborationwill see Seaworks, Williamstown become the Ships Opera-tions Base for Sea Shepherd as we prepare our ships and

6

by Lamya Essemlali, President of Sea Shepherd FranceSea Shepherd France Keeping Course in 2012 !

I n April 2012, Captain Paul Watson was in Paris forwhat has become his traditional annual visit to the

French capital. This time the conference took place in LaVillette where over 350 people attended, coming from allparts of France, Belgium and Switzerland. Thanks to anever-growing base of support and an incredible core ofdevoted volunteers, Sea Shepherd France has been able todouble its budget in 2012, compared to 2011, and cannow attend and be represented in approximately 100

events year round in the whole country.In May, a support event for the Captain was

organised in Cannes, with the generous contri-bution of actress Michelle Rodriguez.

In October, Captain Paul Watson wasgranted the prestigious Jules Verne Award, be-coming the second environmentalist after theCommandant Jacques Cousteau to be honoredwith this distinction. Unfortunately, due to hislegal situation at the time, Captain Watsoncould not be in Paris to receive his prize in per-son and I was given the honor of accepting itin his name, alongside his longtime friend andSea Shepherd Advisory Board Member,Richard Dean Anderson.

by Maddy Madison, Germany Director

2012was not only a successful year for Sea ShepherdGermany, but also a busy one. When Captain Paul

Watson was arrested at Frankfurt Airport in May, our volun-teers did a great job to help and assist. After Captain Watsonwas released on bail, the Costa Rican President, Laura Chin-chilla, coincidentally visited Germany. We organized aprotest at the Victory Column in Berlin at short notice inorder to convince the German government to let Paul Wat-son go and to raise media awareness. In June, our Frankfurtvolunteers hosted a very successful fundraiser where CaptainWatson spoke to more than 450 people.

We also received incredible support from the organizers ofFedCon, Europe’s biggest Science Fiction Convention, whereCaptain Watson was scheduled to speak before he was ar-rested. Instead, Peter Hammarstedt joined and helped us tomake this event one of the most successful ones of the year.

A month later in June, Captain Paul Watson joined us atthe vampire-themed convention BloodyCon where he metthe actor Ian Somerhalder, who also showed us great sup-port. Another really successful convention was RingCon in Oc-tober, focused on fantasy and Lord of the Rings, where we metthe actors of Game of Thrones who drew peoples’ attention tous by proudly wearing a special edition Sea Shepherd shirt.

Throughout 2012, Sea Shepherd Germany par-ticipated at 77 events from small club concerts toconventions, huge exhibitions and music festivalsall over the country. We participated for the firsttime at the world’s largest indoor boat showBOOT in Düsseldorf, the Wacken Open Air, whichis the world’s biggest Heavy Metal Festival, andwe have joined one of the best known Germanrock bands Die Ärzte on their Germany tour. Ourlocal chapters still continue to grow and we nowhave more than 150 active and dedicated volun-teers to spread the word.

Three of our German volunteers joined theAntarctic Whale Defense Campaign Operation

Zero Tolerance and we supported the Cove Guardians onthe ground in Taiji as part of Operation Infinite Patiencewith a crew of four. Sea Shepherd Germany was also repre-sented during Operation Divine Wind in Antarctica. All inall, 2012 was very motivating for us and Sea Shepherd Ger-many has come a long way. Thank you for the trust and allthis wonderful support!

Germany

by Rebecca Jeanson, Country Coordinator

S ea Shepherd Switzerland was created in April 2010.Many people are wondering whether Sea Shepherd

Switzerland is relevant as this country has no coastline.The absence of ocean or sea does not prevent the pressurethat we are putting on our ecosystems. For instance, dur-ing the international whaling commission meeting theSwiss delegation was in favor of resuming whale huntingquotas, eight dolphins have died in less than three years inConnyland Dolphinarium, stingray and shark leather areused to make watches and bags, and that despite the ab-sence of coastline, we find marine fish on our plates and inrestaurants. There are no boundaries to exploit ecosytems,therefore there are no boundaries to protect them. This

means that Sea Shepherd’s presence is legitimized.During these last three years, we have collaborated

on several issues and thanks to all volunteers, we havealso been active throughout Switzerland tocollect funds and inform people. We have ac-tively campaigned in several SSCS campaigns(we have collected vegan food for OperationBlue Rage I and II, we have campaigned tostop the grind and we have joined the CoveGuardians team in 2012). We have also activelyparticipated with Lush Cosmetics Switzerlandto achieve the historical victory in favor of dol-phins in Switzerland, alongside IsabelleChevalley (Green Liberal deputy) and the SwissCetacean Society. It is now forbidden to importdolphins to Switzerland and none of thesemagnificent animals will die on our helveticterritory. We are now working on Switzerland

position as part of the IWC. Now, they have to changetheir view and be against whale hunting in any shape orform. To be continued.

Switzerland

by Alex Cornelissen, Director of OperationsSea Shepherd Galapagos and Latin America

L ife in the enchanted islands is certainly getting betterfor the islands endemic populations of wildlife.

Sea Shepherd is as always contributing to improve the con-ditions and in assisting the local law enforcement agenciesin their fight to stop environmental crimes. At the end of2012 we saw the first EVER verdict passed in an environ-mental case for a crime committed in Galapagos. Germannational Dirk Bender was sentenced to four years imprison-ment, the maximum punishment for this crime in Ecuador,for attempting to smuggle four endemic and endangeredland iguanas out of the archipelago. After 14 years of havingspecial legislation to protect the islands and four years ofhaving a new constitution that gives more rights to naturethan in any other country in the world, this is the first time

these laws have resulted in a sanction for someone involvedin a wildlife crime. It is our fourth year working in legal mat-ters and we have contributed considerably to an improvedGalapagos legal system.

Due to our tireless advocacy, the prosecution is now spe-cialized in environmental matters; soon this will also be thecase for judges. Due to pressure initiated by Sea Shepherd,environmental cases are now being sentenced at localcourts. In the past, many cases were transferred out of Gala-pagos creating logistical and procedural problems, whichprevented cases from reaching the verdict stage.

Sea Shepherd has also monitored several cases involvingsharks. At local courts, we have provided solid legal argu-ments, always on behalf of the sharks. Not only have we ac-complished the goals we set out at the beginning, we haveachieved more than we ever thought possible.

Our police dog unit was present at the airport when theiguanas were detected, again illustrating the importanceand e!ectiveness of the unit. The Galapagos canine unitcontinues to be the only dog unit in Latin America that fo-

cuses on the detection of illegal wildlife and we arepresently in the fifth year of cooperation with the Ecuado-rian National Police. Their presence at the airports and har-bors is a permanent one and over the years they havedetected shark fins, sea horses and many other species ofGalapagos endemic wildlife. Our AIS network continues towork perfectly and custom-made devices are being in-stalled in the small fishing boats that are registered in theislands. Not only is illegal fishing harder with every extratool we can give local authorities, maritime safety is alsoimproved for mariners navigating inside the GalapagosMarine Reserve.

A very important message has been sent to environmen-tal criminals around the world: the laws here not only pro-vide more protection to the natural areas than anywhereelse in the world, but the Galapagos community and au-thorities are doing everything in their power to ensure thatthe laws are being implemented as well. As always theGalapagos Islands are our line in the sand only more thanever is the sand becoming firmer under our feet.

Galapagos

Sea Shepherd Swiss team in Pantographe, Moutier,October 2012

Sea Shepherd Swiss team in Pantographe, Moutier,October 2012 © Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea ShepherdLamya Essemlali accepting Jules Verne Award

for Captain WatsonLamya Essemlali accepting Jules Verne Award

for Captain Watson

France

7

including Sea Shepherd UK’s “Skydive for theOceans” with Captain Alex Cornelissen who is jumpingfrom an aircraft at 15,000 feet, alongside a daring team ofup to 20 volunteer crew and onshore volunteers from SSUK.

Sponsor Captain Alex Cornelissen at:http://www.justgiving.com/Alex-CornelissenOr sponsor the SSUK skydive team at:http://www.justgiving.com/SeaShepherd-SkydiveSea Shepherd UK will have an auction of art, collecta-

bles, celebrity items and signed Sea Shepherd items in late2013. Please email us for details or to donate items or art-work for this charity auction at uk@seashepherd.org!

by Darren Collis, General Managerand Rob Read, Director

S ea Shepherd UK is receiving ever greater supportfrom the public, ethical businesses, artists and per-

formers who are passionate about the oceans. SylvieGuillem performed at Sadler’s Wells in London to a soldout crowd with all performance fees on the night donatedto Sea Shepherd UK. The event was filmed by the BBC forThe Culture Show and French media in association withLamya Essemlali of Sea Shepherd France. Many bands andperformers have raised funds and the Sea Shepherd UKprofile over the last year including the the Red Hot ChiliPeppers, Propagandhi, Rise Against and especially Hawk-wind / Elves of Silbury Hill who have become amazingsupporters of our charity.

LUSH UK has stepped up yet another gear this year withseveral individual shops doing fundraising and awarenessfor Sea Shepherd UK, but also the production of anothernew product especially for the charity - The new MermaidBath Ballistic and Mermaid Song are available on-linefrom https://www.lush.co.uk/sea-shepherd in associa-tion with musician/composer Ysanne with all profits goingto Sea Shepherd.

In the first phase of an ongoing initiative to activelyhelp the UK marine coastline, Sea Shepherd UK volunteershave been busy with beach cleanups this year particularlyin North Wales, NE England and on Jersey (Channel Is-lands). A record number of UK volunteers left our shores tojoin Sea Shepherd Australia on their extremely successfulAntarctic campaign Operation Zero Tolerance, alongwith a UK Director who crewed as quartermaster on theSteve Irwin. Also travelling around the world to assist withinternational campaigns were two UK Directors whojoined Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians in Taiji, Japan fortheir first time. Also, for the third time, SSUK was repre-sented among the Cove Guardians by two of ourmost dedicated onshore crewmembers.

In the autumn of 2012, Sea Shepherd UK heldat Bush Hall (Shepherd’s Bush, London) our mostsuccessful fundraiser event ever with guestspeaker Captain Peter Hammarstedt as well asmany Sea Shepherd crew and Cove Guardians inattendance. Many thanks to Vegan PeasantCatering to create the beautiful and tasty veganfood. Many thanks to all the amazingly talentedmusicians, artists and to all our hard workingvolunteers who made the event into an as-tounding success (and a huge amount of fun)!

Coming up in 2013 are many events whichcan be viewed on the UK pages of our website –

by Anne Van Ingelgem, Belgium Director

O ur dedicated team of volunteers and growing sup-porters base have made 2012 a successful year.

Sea Shepherd Belgium was present at a lot of events.Thanks to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, we managed to tableat Rock Werchter, one of the biggest music festivals in Eu-rope. The Duikbeurs, a major diving fair, o!ered us a freetable. Zaradi Tebe, an alternative cultural festival in Ghent,dedicated this year’s entire edition to Sea Shepherd. And ofcourse we were present at many more festivals and events.

Working together with local vegan and vegetarian

restaurants, we also organized “Dining for theOceans” fundraisers that were well-received.Special thanks to the journalists of “De Pers-groep,” who keep us in the news, and to ourambassador Tom Waes.

Sea Shepherd exists because of all the individ-ual support. As a token of appreciation, we cre-ated a “supporter card” system. Donors receive asupporter card that entitles them to certain perks,such as being invited to special donor events.

In addition to these e!orts, we will be focus-ing more on education and outreach in 2013:working together with schools, organizationsand local celebrities to raise awareness for theplight of the oceans.

Belgium

by Rosie Kunneke, South Africa Coordinator

T he South African Chapter has grown from strengthto strength in the past year with our Facebook

page topping 18,000 supporters. Six South Africans havethus far travelled to Taiji to serve as Cove Guardians andwe anticipate more to join the Cove Guardian family inthe upcoming season. Locally we have participated inmonthly beach clean up events, assisting other NGOs inrescuing penguins and sea birds, and several of ourmembers have given talks at schools about the function

of SSCS and the importance of ocean conser-vation. Further to that we’ve done several out-reach events including the massivelysuccessful annual Hermanus Whale Festival.2012 also saw some members of the SA chap-ter travelling to Namibia to participate in thesecond year of Operation Desert Seal. Ontheir way to Namibia, the crew assisted in arhino conservation programme with SPOTSwhere we used our UAV technology to fightagainst the same syndicates who regularlyplunder our oceans and wildlife. We look for-ward to expanding and growing even furtherin 2013.

South Africa

by Geert Vons, Netherlands DirectorSea Shepherd Receives " 900,000

from Dutch National Postcode Lottery

T he annual Goed Geld Gala (Good Money Gala) givenby the Dutch National Postcode Lottery was held at

the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on February 13th. Drs.Geert Vons, General Director for Sea Shepherd Netherlandsand Daan Molenaar, Treasurer and Sea Shepherd Nether-lands board member, attended the gala on behalf of SeaShepherd Netherlands. Judith Lingeman, Charities Man-ager for the Dutch Postcode Lottery, presented the pairwith a check for # 900,000.

The distinguished guest of honor for the event, formerPresident of the United States, Bill Clinton praised the Post-

code Lottery for creating “an experience of positive interde-pendence.” Half of the money from every lottery ticket soldgoes directly to charity. The National Postcode Lottery,which was founded in 1989 to support charities,donated a record amount of 291 million euros toover 85 charities. The National Postcode Lotteryhas already donated over 4.6 billion USD to envi-ronmental and humanitarian charities and is thethird largest private charitable donor worldwide.

Sea Shepherd has gratefully received an an-nual financial contribution of # 900,000 from thePostcode Lottery since 2007. Recently this collab-oration was assessed and approved for continu-tation by the Lottery’s Board of Commissioners.“Living creatures in the world’s oceans are faringbadly and whales are still being hunted. This iswhy the National Postcode Lottery feels it is im-portant to continue supporting Sea Shepherd

and is looking forward to continuing the collaboration,”said Judith Lingeman. It was decided that the structuralsupport would continue at least through 2017.

Netherlands

UK

Geert Vons and Daan Molenaar receiving the checkfrom Judith Lingeman

Geert Vons and Daan Molenaar receiving the checkfrom Judith Lingeman © Roy Beusker

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

8

by Phyllis Clem, Administrative Manager

Friday Harbor, WA

Sea Shepherd Gallery and Educational Cen-ter in Friday Harbor has moved a few

doors down the street from its original location.Our new location is closer to the ferry line park-ing making it easy to browse while waiting forthe ferry. Come by and check out the new spaceand educational displays and merchandise!Admission is always free.Location:278 A Street #4Friday Harbor, WA 98250

Seattle, WA

Sea Shepherd Gallery and Educational Center is proud toannounce the opening of the Sea Shepherd Gallery-Seat-

tle. The gallery is located at the world famous Pike Place Market,within walking distance of many tourist attractions. Boasting2,400 square feet on two levels with a unique industrial design,the gallery features original artifacts, great visual displays, in-teractive presentations, and authentic logo apparel.Admission is always free.Location:1427 Western AvenueSeattle, WA 98101

USA

Outreachby Matthew Johnson, Outreach Coordinator

O ver the past year, Sea Shepherd has added five newvolunteer chapters - SSCS Uruguay, SSCS Costa Rica,

SSCS Hawaii, SSCS Jacksonville, and SSCS Sweden. Currently, wehave 13 chapters operating in the US and Canada. More chap-ters will be joining the Sea Shepherd family soon, as dedicatedvolunteers are hard at work creating new chapters to educatethe public about the importance of marine conservation.

In the US, we had three tremendously successful 35th An-niversary events. These events included Light Up the Night inNew York, NY, 35 Years of Conservation in Action in Lyons, Col-orado, and Oceans of Change in Malibu, CA. These eventsraised $150,000 collectively to defend ocean wildlife.

Each and every one of our North American chaptersworked tirelessly through the year to hold fundraisers, tableat events, host beach cleanups, host a whale watch, and at-tend special events. However, there are three chapters that Iwould like to highlight for their incredible e!orts. Our NewYork, NY, Denver, CO, and Philadelphia, PA chapters took partin approximately 20 events each in 2012!

In NYC, Ethan Wolf and Dayna Rozental have kept thechapter going strong while making time to be CoveGuardians and have launched into 2013 with incredible in-tensity. In 2012, Danielle Wheeler transitioned leadership ofthe Denver Chapter to the incredibly capable hands of MollyMcNulty, who has kept up a swift pace attending events reg-ularly as well as hosting monthly and quarterly functions. InPhiladelphia, our coordinator, former Cove Guardian andcrewmember, Biaggo Comeriato, stepped into the coordina-tor role in early 2012. Despite being in Australia working hardon the Bob Barker for part of the year, his chapter pulled o!an impressive number of events.

We’re looking forward to 2013. Sea Shepherd’s volunteer

flew to the United States from Australia to perform for theaudience of 250 VIP supporters.

It was truly an incredible evening that showed Germanyand the rest of the world that Captain Watson is a hero tomany and deserves to be free protecting the world’s oceans.Defending the ocean in a way only he does, with direct actionand quantifiable results.

A special thanks to; John Paul DeJoria/Patron Spirits/Semler,Cathy Kangas, Xavier Rudd, Synthian Sharp, Martin Sheen,Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation & American Dog Rescue, TobinJames Cellars, Hoodlamb, Candle 79, WaterCourse Foods, VeganPrinter, Vegan Treats, Veggie Grill, Erewhon, Lionscrest Manor,JAM Vegan Bakery, New Belgium Brewing Company, 303Vodka, Maine Root Soda, Blue Water Distilling Vodka, REUSITand Jennifer Naylor Inc. for their donated services in 2012.

Eventsby Farrah E. Smith, Major Gift O!cer & Special Events

I n June, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society AdvisoryBoard Member John Paul DeJoria hosted the Free Captain

Paul Watson benefit at his estate in Malibu, California. Theevent rallied support to prevent Captain Watson’s pending ex-tradition to Costa Rica on a decade-old warrant for trying tohalt an illegal shark-finning operation.

Mr. DeJoria was the recipient of a special award in recogni-tion of 20 years of support and guidance to Captain Watsonand Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Captain Watson ad-dressed the crowd via live feed from Germany where he wasbeing held under house arrest, and musician Xavier Rudd

during sweeps and promoted it heavily on billboards and radio.With the addition of live-streaming for the first time and con-current tweets on Twitter, Sea Shepherd was able to bring theatrocities of Taiji to a real-time, rapt audience of thousands.

Operation Requiem, Sea Shepherd’s inaugural shark de-fense campaign to educate South Pacific governments andlocals about protecting sharks as well as our work to patrolfor illegal finning operations in the region was a fantasticsuccess, garnering press in key Australian and South Pacificoutlets including ABC News, Radio Australia, Fiji Times anda crucial open letter to the public in the Vanuatu Daily Post.

On May 13th, Captain Watson was arrested in Germany onpolitically motivated charges from Costa Rica and Japan whileen route to the Cannes Film Festival. The shockwaves from hisarrest reverberated around the world, sparking outrage,protests, and major media coverage from the AssociatedPress, CNN, BBC, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times,Hu!ngton Post, National Geographic, The Guardian andhundreds more. The German Government received a reported158,000 letters calling for Captain Watson’s release.

Sea Shepherd produced two stunning documentaries ofits campaigns to defend the most sacred eco-system on Earth— the Galapagos — and to protect the world’s largesthumpback whale nursery from development of a giant gashub on Western Australia’s pristine Kimberley Coast.

Mediaby Lisa Agabian, Senior Media Relations Manager

I n 2012, Sea Shepherd executed several campaigns and con-currently began a legal battle for reason and justice in the

courts and for Captain Watson’s freedom, all of which garneredsignificant media attention. In the fall, Sea Shepherd launchedits ninth Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign, Operation ZeroTolerance, with a press conference aboard the Brigitte Bardot inMarina del Rey, California, featuring supporter and actressPamela Anderson. The event garnered international coverageby ABC News, the UK’s Daily Mail, Kyodo News Service andPeople Magazine among others. A widely quoted article by theNew York Times credited Sea Shepherd for the 2011-2012 doc-umented losses of $20.5 million by Japan’s Institute forCetacean Research, and in other whale campaign news, Cap-tain Peter Hammarstedt appeared on CNN’s “Starting Point”to discuss the pilot whale slaughter in the Faeroe Islands.

In Taiji, Japan, Operation Infinite Patience and the CoveGuardians chronicled the annual, horrific capture and slaughterof entire pods of dolphins. The campaign was spotlighted bymajor outlets including CNN International, HLN’s “Jane VelezMitchell Show,” and KGO-TV, the ABC a"liate in San Francisco,which did a no-holds-barred, expanded, investigative report

Education and Outreach Center

chapters continue to host events and increase the public’sawareness about the plight of our oceans, while many of ourvolunteers are creating the foundation for chapters in theirarea. We’re growing stronger in all aspects of Outreach andlook forward to our continued role as part of the globalSea Shepherd team.

“Sea Shepherd Galapagos” and “Operation Kimberley Mi-inimbi” continue to play to private audiences at fundraisersand awareness-building events worldwide.

In addition to traditional media coverage, Sea Shepherd’ssocial media presence has proven to be a highly e!ective toolfor increasing public awareness of our campaigns and initiat-ing calls to action. Our Facebook presence alone has reachedhalf-a million supporters and the combined reach of all of ourTwitter pages is virtually the same.

Captain Watson speaking in ColoradoCaptain Watson speaking in Colorado

Pamela Anderson aboardthe Brigitte Bardot

Pamela Anderson aboardthe Brigitte Bardot

Sam Simon andJohn Paul DeJoria

Sam Simon andJohn Paul DeJoria

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

© Sea Shepherd

© Kelli Stanko / Sea Shepherd

Visit our Facebook pagefor more information:

Sea Shepherd Gallery andEducational Center

9

• Search online using GoodSearch andshop using GoodShop

• Shop in the Sea Shepherd OnlineStore

• Remember Sea Shepherd in your willvia the Shepherd’s Forever Society

• Transfer or donate shares of appreci-ated stock or mutual funds

• Donate a portion of your eBay salesautomatically via eBay Giving Works

• List your product or service in ourMarketplace and donate a percent-age of proceeds

• Sponsor a donation of materialgoods or services from our Wish List

• Donate online with a debit card,credit card, or PayPal

• Setup an automatic monthly dona-tion (at your bank or on our website)

• Give a donation in honor or in mem-ory of a loved one

• Mail a donation to the Sea Shepherdo"ce closest to youFor more information on any of thesedonation avenues, please contactdonations@seashepherd.org or callor write to your local branch ofSea Shepherd.

by Danielle Wheeler, Development Administrator

Sea Shepherd is able to be so successful in our marine defense e!orts becauseof caring and passionate individuals just like you! Your support is what drives

our enforcement and conservation e!orts, strengthens our resolve, and makespossible the successes we achieve.There are a number of ways in which you can help. No gift is too small and each giftis greatly appreciated. Here are just a few ways you can support our vital e!orts:

S ince 2008, Sea Shepherd has beenproviding our dedicated followers

with eco-ethical merchandise from ourglobal e-Stores. Our sales have contin-ued to increase each year, making it evenmore possible to defend our clients, theanimals of the ocean. Each supporterthat purchases a product in our interna-tional e-Stores becomes a global partnerin spreading the Sea Shepherd mission.As a result, the Sea Shepherd Jolly Rogeris not only a logo - it is a symbol of oceanconservation in action. Proceeds fromthe sale of our merchandise help to fundour campaigns to defend ocean wildlifeworldwide. Please join us in protectingthe oceans by making a purchase today.We also o!er an e!ortless way to donateat checkout.US & Worldwide Store:shop.seashepherd.org

New Sea Shepherd Australia e-StoreWe would like to take this opportunity to thank

our amazing supporters for your incredible dedica-tion. We are excited to announce the unveiling of theredesigned Sea Shepherd e-Store in Australia. Wecontinue to o!er eco-ethical merchandise, guaran-teed sweatshop free, including Certton Australian-made 100% organic cotton shirts. You can alsodonate money directly to Sea Shepherd Australia aspart of your merchandise order. http://seashepherd.unitee.com.au

these endangered fish before they could be transported toMaltese fattening pens. The Fish and Fish poachers took SeaShepherd to court in the UK. Sea Shepherd won the firsthearings but Fish and Fish filed an appeal with the Court ofAppeals and in May 2013 a three-judge Panel of the UKCourt of Appeals ruled against Sea Shepherd. Sea ShepherdUS and Sea Shepherd UK will continue to fight this rulingand are appealing to the UK Supreme Court.

Captain Paul Watson and Interpol ListingsIn May 2012, Captain Paul Watson was arrested in Frank-

furt Airport on his way to France. He was arrested to addressa recently re-issued 10-year-old warrant from Costa Rica ona case that had been previously resolved. While in Germanyaddressing the Costa Rican warrant, Japan saw that Ger-many was willing to act on a bilateral basis and, in a very un-usual move, it approached Germany with their own requestfor extradition. When it was understood that the Germanswould arrest Captain Watson to address the Japanese war-rant, he made the decision to depart Germany. Shortly after,both Costa Rica and Japan re-submitted their previously de-nied paperwork to Interpol requesting red notices, this timeInterpol agreed to elevate the local warrants to red noticelevel. As such, Captain Watson remains at sea where he isfree to fight the politically motivated warrants against him.The fight for Paul’s freedom is ongoing.

Whether on board a ship, on shore or in a courtroom, wewill continue to fight to save the ocean and the marine ani-mals that depend on it. Sea Shepherd would like to extendmany thanks upon our international attorney team who arefighting with and for us as we continue our mission to pro-tect the oceans:

Oliver Wallasch, Hugo Echeverria, Charles Moure, JonathanKorman, John McMullen, Kim Roberts, William Bourdon, Fed-erico Morales Herrera, Alexander S. K. Gruner, Phoebus Ebbini,Michelle Crorie, Prof. Liesbeth Zegveld, Ann Prezyna, AuraGantz, Rachel Buker, Rebecca Millican, Dan Harris, SylvainLeroy, Jonathan Korman, Arielle Moreau, Arnaud Pelpel

regular and unexpected in-junction against Sea Shep-herd U.S. and overturned awell-articulated ruling bythe honorable and re-spected District CourtJudge Richard A. Jones,who had previously deniedthis injunction. The NinthCircuit also made a rareand unwarranted decisionto remove Judge Jonesfrom the case and labeledSea Shepherd “pirates.”The potential for this rul-ing is far-reaching andvery serious in terms ofconsequences beyondSea Shepherd, because it

literally changes maritime law’s definition of piracy. In re-sponse to this injunction, Sea Shepherd US took e!ortsabove and beyond what was expected to comply with thisruling, by completely pulling out all support from theAntarctic Whale Defense Campaign and leaving it to SeaShepherd Australia to pick up the gauntlet and manage thecampaign. ICR has recently charged Sea Shepherd US, PaulWatson, Board Members and employees with contempt ofcourt for actions taken during the 2012-13 Antarctic WhaleDefense Campaign that was managed by Sea ShepherdAustralia, with Dutch- and Australian-flagged ships in In-ternational and Australian waters. As of this writing,Sea Shepherd US has been denied a requested En Banchearing. We will appeal to the Supreme Court and continueto fight. This case is ongoing.

Fish and Fish v. Sea Shepherd Conservation SocietyUK and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society US

The Maltese company Fish and Fish illegally poached800 juvenile bluefin tuna in 2010. Sea Shepherd released

T he e!ectiveness of a conservation organization can bemeasured in di!erent ways. One way is the number of

marine animals we have saved over the past 35 years – thewhales, seals, pilot whales and other dolphins, bluefin tuna,sharks and sea cucumbers, to name only a few. Because ofour success in saving wildlife, we now find ourselves fre-quently on a new battlefield – the judicial court system. Thecourtroom has become another avenue upon which we areforced to fight for the oceans. Corporations and poachersmake their money o! of the exploitation of wildlife and theyare willing to spend it trying to shut us down.

Here are some updates of the cases that we are fightingfor the greater good:

Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) v.Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, US Court ofAppeals for the Ninth Circuit

After receiving a positive ruling in the lower court inwhich an injunction against Sea Shepherd was denied, theICR poachers appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court. In Decem-ber 2012, a panel of three judges handed down a highly ir-

legallegal

Sh p to supportby Jennifer Johnsonand Kathleen McGibbon,US Merchandise Team

There are many ways you can support

OUR MISSION!!

© Sea Shepherd Italy

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Pamela AndersonRichard Dean AndersonBrigitte BardotBob BarkerArthur E. BenjaminBob Brown Dave Bugliari Nancy BurnetZach CallisonIan CampbellCookies for All

James CostaJohn Paul & Eloise DeJoriaDavid De RothschildDutch Postcode LotterySebastian FerrerBill FoldMike GalesiGojiraPol GoossenSylvie Guillem& Gilles Tapie

Maureen HackettRutger HauerHoodlambCathy KangasAnthony KiedisMichael KroegerRachel KropaLaviniaTommy Lee & Motley CrueRobert LemlichIsabel Lucas

LUSHMichael Muller Gildo PastorSean PennJoe & Billie Perry& AerosmithSteve PerryPriority WorldwideServicesRed Hot Chili PeppersPerrey Reeves

Michelle RodriguezXavier RuddJulian SchnabelMartin & Janet SheenSignmanSam SimonSmashing PumpkinsIan SomerhalderFoster StanbackFred StanbackSupreme Master Ching Hai

Derrick & Erin SwinfardGuy SwinnenMarc & Erin TohirDouglas & Kris TompkinsJoseph & Esther VaretTom WaesDianne WarrenMax WernerPhilip & Trix WollenSteve Wynn

Pamela AndersonRichard Dean AndersonBrigitte BardotBob BarkerArthur E. BenjaminBob Brown Dave Bugliari Nancy BurnetZach CallisonIan CampbellCookies for All

James CostaJohn Paul & Eloise DeJoriaDavid De RothschildDutch Postcode LotterySebastian FerrerBill FoldMike GalesiGojiraPol GoossenSylvie Guillem& Gilles Tapie

Maureen HackettRutger HauerHoodlambCathy KangasAnthony KiedisMichael KroegerRachel KropaLaviniaTommy Lee & Motley CrueRobert LemlichIsabel Lucas

LUSHMichael Muller Gildo PastorSean PennJoe & Billie Perry& AerosmithSteve PerryPriority WorldwideServicesRed Hot Chili PeppersPerrey Reeves

Michelle RodriguezXavier RuddJulian SchnabelMartin & Janet SheenSignmanSam SimonSmashing PumpkinsIan SomerhalderFoster StanbackFred StanbackSupreme Master Ching Hai

Derrick & Erin SwinfardGuy SwinnenMarc & Erin TohirDouglas & Kris TompkinsJoseph & Esther VaretTom WaesDianne WarrenMax WernerPhilip & Trix WollenSteve Wynn

In Memory Of

By Hillary WatsonM y father, Stephen Michael Watson, wasborn on March 19th, 1958 in a small hos-

pital in St. Stephen’s New Brunswick, Canada. On August30th, 2012, my father’s life came full circle and to an endin the same hospital he was born in, at the age of 54.Dad was an artist, an environmentalist, an activist foranimal rights, a proud vegan, a lover of the oceans, agood friend, and above all else, a compassionate andloving man. He was very supportive of his brother, Cap-tain Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd.

He was hardly ever seen without wearing a SeaShepherd shirt and would attend all the Sea Shepherdevents that he could. He would donate paintings andsome of the profit made from many of his paintings toSea Shepherd. He often spoke of his desire to crew on acampaign with his brother but never got the chance. Hisfinal wish was to have his ashes scattered among thepristine waters of the Southern Ocean on a Sea ShepherdAntarctic campaign. During this year’s Antarctic cam-

paign, Operation Zero Tolerance, I had the opportunityto crew alongside my uncle, Captain Paul Watson andwe carried out my father’s wish together. His ashes werescattered into the wind o! of Scott Island in the Ross Seain Antarctica. We could not have found a more perfectfinal resting place for my father.

My dad was diagnosed with stage four cancer inJune 2012 and had a short but brave battle. He refusedto allow cancer to take over his life and went on a vaca-tion with his wife and my mother, Renee, to his home-town, St. Stephen’s, New Brunswick to relax and visitfamily. He developed pneumonia and died peacefully,surrounded by all of his children; Garrett, Shawn, Lea,myself, and his wife, Renee, near the ocean which heloved so much.

His compassion and artistry touched many peoples’lives and continues to do so. His loved ones felt howmuch he cherished them and his ability to be eternallygiving. He was cherished in return.

A ll of us at Sea Shepherd Conserva-tion Society staff, officers, crew,

onshore volunteers, all are saddened by thedeath of one of our most beloved members ofthe Sea Shepherd Advisory Board. Captain AlbertFalco died on April 21, 2012 at the age of 84. Hewas born in Marseille, France on October 17,1927. He died in Marseille. Albert Falco was theformer captain and chief diver of the R/V Ca-lypso. He was a pioneer scuba diver and long-time diving companion of Captain JacquesCousteau. On May 25, 2011 in La Ciotat, France,Captain Falco officially launched the Sea Shep-herd vessel Brigitte Bardot.

We were honoured and proud that he joinedour advisory board for ocean conservation. Theworld sadly has lost three of the greatest diversand conservationists of all time with CaptainFalco, Philippe Cousteau and Captain JacquesCousteau. Captain Falco saw the diminishmentof biodiversity in our oceans over a span ofnearly seven decades. He was dedicated to theprotection of life and habitats in the sea. He wasa legendary mariner, diver, oceanographer, andconservationist. The world is a better place be-cause of him. He will always be remembered andhonoured by all of us in the Sea Shepherd Con-servation Society.

Stephen Michael Watson – 1958 – 2012

Captain Albert Falco – 1927 – 2012

AN OCEAN OF THANKS

W e wish to express our deep gratitude tothe following Ocean Ambassadors. Not

only did these individuals provide the much-neededresources for Sea Shepherd to make a di!erence, but theyalso opened up their homes for screenings and fundraising

events, introduced Sea Shepherd to their friends and familyin hopes of finding new supporters, and lent their voice andcelebrity to spread awareness for the cause and to assistCaptain Watson in battling his politically motivated charges.Their commitment and dedication to Sea Shepherd is

appreciated beyond words, and the endless e!ort theycontinually put towards this vital cause extends to everyliving creature in the sea. Thank you from the captains, crew,sta!, onshore volunteers and our clients — the whales,dolphins, fish, sea turtles, seals, and sharks.

© François Sarrano

© Dawn Urbanowicz

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AUSTRALIAPO Box 276Fitzroy, Vic 3065Tel.: +61 3 9445 0323australia@seashepherd.org.auFRANCE22 rue Boulard, 75014Paris, FranceTel.: + 33 7 60 26 22 77contact@seashepherd.frGALAPAGOSOficina de Sea ShepherdCalle Indefatigable s/n e Isla PlazasPuerto AyoraIsla Santa CruzGalápagos, EcuadorTel.: +593-52524676galapagos@seashepherd.orgGERMANYSea Shepherd Deutschland e.V.Postfach 195325509 ItzehoeTel.: +49 172 450 88 79info@seashepherd.deITALYcontatto@seashepherd.it

NETHERLANDSPostbus 580551040 HB Amsterdam, Nederlandinfo@seashepherd.nlTel.: +31(0)6 1259 3445NEW ZEALAND64 Waitea RoadMuriwai, Auckland 0881Tel.: +64221501817info@seashepherd.org.nzSINGAPOREsingapore@seashepherd.org

SOUTH AFRICANo. 5 Ocean Village CloseBloubergrandtCape Town , 7441 South AfricaTel.: +2782 570 9834southafrica@seashepherd.org SPAINinfo@seashepherd.esSWITZERLANDPerrière 5,CH Neuchâtel, Switzerlandcontact@seashepherd.chCCP: 12-899073-7

UNITED KINGDOM27 Old Gloucester StreetLondon, WC1N 3AXTel.: 44-300-111-0501Tel.: 44-7575-066726contact@seashepherduk.orgUSAPO Box 2616Friday Harbor, WA 98250Tel.: (360) 370-5650info@seashepherd.org

Richard Dean AndersonBrigitte BardotLinda BlairJody BoymanBerkeley BreathedDeborah Brosnan, Ph.D.Pierce BrosnanPaul BrownHonorable Ian CampbellSebastiano Cossia Castiglioni

David Comarow, Esq.Sean ConneryJames CostaJohn Paul DeJoriaTui De RoyIsabel DowLinda G. FisherDave ForemanHannah FraserMarc Gaede

Birute Galdikas, Ph.D.Mike GalesiStephanie GilmoreMichael GoldschlagerSylvie GuillemRutger HauerRandall H. HayesHerbert HenrichAlex Hershaft, Ph.D.Steve Hindi

Basil HobbsSidney Holt, Ph.D.Jennifer Hopper, Ph.D.Captain Jet JohnsonPieter KroonenburgLouise Leakey, Ph.D.Howard LymanJoe MacInnisEnzo MaiorcaPatrizia Maiorca

Rafe MairJoe McGinniss, Ph.D.Godfrey Merlen, Ph.D.Alex PachecoSean PennGrant PereiraJacques PerrinHeidi PrescottDave RastovichTom Regan, Ph.D.

Martin SheenSam SimonKelly SlaterGeorge SumnerBarbara VeigaGeert-Jan Vons, Ph.D.Tom WaesOliver WallaschDiane WarrenElora WestScott West

International ChairmanFarley Mowat

FounderCaptain Paul Watson

Board of Directors AustraliaBob Brown Laura DakinJeff HansenJohn McMullanMichelle Mossfield

Board of Advisors

Sea Shepherd’s Mission StatementEstablished in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an

international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Ourmission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in theworld’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate,document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal

activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of ourdelicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure

their survival for future generations.

SSCS is registered in the United States as a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Tax ID # 93-079-2021); Netherlands a Stichting (KvK nr. 41158702) with tax-deductibleANBI status; Sea Shepherd UK (Charity 1110501); France (# 498 870 377). SSCS is also registered in Australia (ABN 38123339499) and in Ecuador (RUC # 179 213 267 3001)

SSCS is registered in the United States as a tax-deductible 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Tax ID # 93-079-2021); Netherlands a Stichting (KvK nr. 41158702) with tax-deductibleANBI status; Sea Shepherd UK (Charity 1110501); France (# 498 870 377). SSCS is also registered in Australia (ABN 38123339499) and in Ecuador (RUC # 179 213 267 3001)

To request banking information, write to the address in your country.To request banking information, write to the address in your country.