Petition to Drop Charges Against Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson

brianlux

gimmesometruth27 said:

somebody has to enforce the laws and protect those whales. if the international community won't do it, then i am all for vigilantes who will.

In a nutshell. Thank you!

Last-12-Exit

brianlux said:

Last-12-Exit said:

brianlux said:

Jason P said:

This dude was too hard core for Green Peace. Didn't he scuttle some ships?

Varying accounts mention why Watson left Greenpeace which he helped found. My understanding is the Watson's leaving/ousting from Greenpeace was basically a parting of ways over disagreement with tactics. Watson was in favor of more action, less bureaucracy. In his biography, Watson talks about how Greenpeace was using a large portion of their resources and time building a top heaving international organization instead of focusing on action.

Scuttle, noun.
The deliberate sinking of one's own ship; Coal scuttle, a bucket-like container for coal.

Other's ships? Yes. Sea Shepherds have sunk other's ships engaged in illegal activity.

Sea Sheperd's own ships? Not that I know of. Some claim he let their ship The Ady Gil sink after it was rammed by Japanese vessel Shonan Maru #2. My understanding is that Watson did not attempt to save that ship for safety reasons and the crew was rescued by one of their other ships, The Bob Barker.

You sound like you are saying what they did is ok because someone was engaging in illegal activity. Now, I have no clue what kind of illegal activity was going on, but I highly doubt t it was worth killing people in the process. Isn't that attempted murder?

Since I have no idea what the circumstances were (the ship could have been docked), I'll refrain from flat out calling this guy a criminal. But if he is deliberately sinking ships in open waters, he should be in jail.

Perhaps you missed my earlier posts. As I said early, Watson and Sea Shepherds have not killed or injured anyone. They are a non-violent group. In 38 years they have not killed or harmed any one. Only Watson himself has been injured and this was while confronting illegal killing of seals. Canadian mounties threw Watson in frigid arctic waters and forced him to stay in the water until almost dead and then took him on board ship and beat him severely.

Like I said, Watson's tactics are not for everyone but it is indeed a shame that this is what's needed to save these animals. Desperate measures for desperate times.

No, I read what you wrote. I said I didn't know the circumstances of the sabotage. I wonder how he (or they) are so sure someone wouldn't get hurt. Plus, the destruction of property alone is worth some jail time. I would imagine there are better ways out there to prevent killing these animals.

Brian, I'm not arguing just to argue here. This is a good cause. You're correct when you say the methods aren't for everyone. I'm just surprised to hear you defend these actions.

brianlux

Last-12-Exit said:

brianlux said:

Last-12-Exit said:

brianlux said:

Jason P said:

This dude was too hard core for Green Peace. Didn't he scuttle some ships?

Varying accounts mention why Watson left Greenpeace which he helped found. My understanding is the Watson's leaving/ousting from Greenpeace was basically a parting of ways over disagreement with tactics. Watson was in favor of more action, less bureaucracy. In his biography, Watson talks about how Greenpeace was using a large portion of their resources and time building a top heaving international organization instead of focusing on action.

Scuttle, noun.
The deliberate sinking of one's own ship; Coal scuttle, a bucket-like container for coal.

Other's ships? Yes. Sea Shepherds have sunk other's ships engaged in illegal activity.

Sea Sheperd's own ships? Not that I know of. Some claim he let their ship The Ady Gil sink after it was rammed by Japanese vessel Shonan Maru #2. My understanding is that Watson did not attempt to save that ship for safety reasons and the crew was rescued by one of their other ships, The Bob Barker.

You sound like you are saying what they did is ok because someone was engaging in illegal activity. Now, I have no clue what kind of illegal activity was going on, but I highly doubt t it was worth killing people in the process. Isn't that attempted murder?

Since I have no idea what the circumstances were (the ship could have been docked), I'll refrain from flat out calling this guy a criminal. But if he is deliberately sinking ships in open waters, he should be in jail.

Perhaps you missed my earlier posts. As I said early, Watson and Sea Shepherds have not killed or injured anyone. They are a non-violent group. In 38 years they have not killed or harmed any one. Only Watson himself has been injured and this was while confronting illegal killing of seals. Canadian mounties threw Watson in frigid arctic waters and forced him to stay in the water until almost dead and then took him on board ship and beat him severely.

Like I said, Watson's tactics are not for everyone but it is indeed a shame that this is what's needed to save these animals. Desperate measures for desperate times.

No, I read what you wrote. I said I didn't know the circumstances of the sabotage. I wonder how he (or they) are so sure someone wouldn't get hurt. Plus, the destruction of property alone is worth some jail time. I would imagine there are better ways out there to prevent killing these animals.

Brian, I'm not arguing just to argue here. This is a good cause. You're correct when you say the methods aren't for everyone. I'm just surprised to hear you defend these actions.

No worries, Last-12. I know you don't argue just to argue.

Yes, I do support the actions of Sea Shepherds* with the caveat that these kinds of actions do not set well with many people and that I would have preferred more civil means which could have been effective to resolve the problem of illegal killing of sea mammals. But that has not worked. These issues are several decades old and yet the illegal killing continues.

*Not so much the sinking of ships but the disruption of illegal ocean mammal killing, absolutely.

brianlux

Perhaps this will add some perspective.

" Incidents of illegal shooting dolphins have also increased in the Gulf of Mexico as fishermen retaliate against dolphins they believe are stealing fish.
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/fisheries/facts/fisheries_marine_mammals.html

"More than 650,000 whales and dolphins are killed or seriously injured every year by foreign fishing fleets. Countries exporting fish to America are supposed to prove they use safer methods. But for decades the US has failed to enforce this law."
http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/mammals-foreign-fisheries.asp

"An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year around the world, a number that far exceeds what many populations need to recover.... The culprit is the proliferation of illegal shark finning that spiked in the 1990s to feed appetites for shark fin soup, a delicacy in parts of Asia.
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/01/100-million-sharks-killed-every-year-study-shows-on-eve-of-international-conference-on-shark-protection/

Many, many more examples could be sited.

PJfanwillneverleave1

Never heard of the Paul Watson guy until this thread.
I actually read the petition article to see what this is all about.

then I read the Wiki bio of this guy of course
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Watson

This guy is a hot mess.

Edit - Did you sign the petition OP?

HughFreakingDillon

gimmesometruth27 said:

somebody has to enforce the laws and protect those whales. if the international community won't do it, then i am all for vigilantes who will.

so you are ok with lawlessness as long as it is on the side of what some perceive as " the good guys"? wouldn't you agree that's incredibly dangerous to advocate for?

brianlux

In case you got the impression that all Sea Shepherds does is sink ships, here's a recent Shepherd's action (from their FB page):


In Bremen, Germany the gill net of the late poaching ship THUNDER are in bags ready for recycling. The SAM SIMON is open for tours and preparations for both the SAM SIMON and the BOB BARKER are underway for a summer of campaigning in the North Atlantic.