Chris Aultman is the helicopter pilot and Aviation Director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He served for six years in the United States Marine Corps prior to joining the Sea Shepherd team. During that period Chris spent 13 months at sea and became a veteran of the Gulf War.
Aultman’s first experience with the destruction of the world’s oceans was seeing the disastrous effects of the millions of barrels of oil dumped into the Persian Gulf during that war. This and many other experiences caused Chris to start to see the world for what it really was, and nothing was ever the same again.
By Marika Collins •
December 18, 2008
Greenpeace issued a lengthy statement on their website in an attempt to further distance themselves from Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd yesterday. With an aim at setting the record straight, Greenpeace made the statement out of frustration with what it claims are lies and falsehoods propagated by Watson, compounded by a general public misconception that Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are associated with one another.
Greenpeace takes issue with what they describe as a fundamental difference in the anti-whaling tactics practiced by each organization. It is interesting to note how Greenpeace characterizes and differentiates their tactics versus that of Sea Shepherd, particularly their characterization of what constitutes violence.
By Melissa Elliott •
December 9, 2008
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has put out a report from Madagascar saying along the coasts, there has been a dramatic decrease in all marine life due to excessive demand of shark fin and sea cucumbers from China.
By Melissa Elliott •
December 8, 2008
The announcement by Japan’s Fisheries Agency that Sea Shepherd crew will be arrested if they disrupt Japanese whale killing operations has done little to stop the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The direct action animal rights organization, as seen on Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars”, says they are “undettered” by the threats.
“When you are willing to die for a whale, the threat of arrest is somewhat trivial,” said Captain Paul Watson. “It can only further our cause of defending the whales if the Japanese take Sea Shepherd crewmembers hostage and haul them back to Japan for prosecution. The diplomatic, political and jurisdictional issues will be profound.”
By Alex Felsinger •
December 3, 2008
The Canadian government opted last week to allow the killing 500 narwhals trapped beneath ice rather than calling in icebreakers to free the animals, claiming the process would have been too stressful for the whales.
Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and star of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, wrote a lengthy condemnation of the Canadian government’s decision. He noted that the government provides millions to fund ice-breaking for the annual baby seal hunt, but rejected the idea when proposed in order to save the whales.
By Alex Felsinger •
November 11, 2008
Captain Paul Watson, leader of the controversial direct-action anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, said in the first episode of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars that his organization disrupts whaling because governments refuse to enforce the International Whaling Commission’s guidelines on their own.
It looks like Sea Shepherd will be left to disrupt the Japanese without government assistance this whaling season yet again, which starts in about a month.
By Levi Novey •
November 7, 2008
Prior to Friday’s premiere of the new Animal Planet series Whale Wars, Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research has accused Animal Planet of ecoterrorism.
The show will chronicle the exploits of an anti-whaling group who takes their quest directly to the front lines, trying to stop Japanese whaling vessels from succeeding in killing whales.
Planetsave editor and contributor Alex Felsinger recently previewed the exciting series. In short, it chronicles how the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stopped Japanese whalers from killing at least 300 whales last winter by using harsh, combative tactics.
