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.

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Now that it is once again time for the annual seal hunt slaughter in Canada, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society wants to hold President Obama to Senator Obama’s words.

In a 2006 letter just published by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Senator Obama wrote to a concerned family telling them he believed the United States should not condone the annual baby seal slaughter in Canada, and that he would work with his colleagues in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “to take the necessary steps to express our outrage with this inhumane measure.”

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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.

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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.

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Sea Shepherd Conservation Society renames one of its ships “Steve Irwin.”

Image credit: William West / AFP-Getty Images

Daryl Hannah joins the crew this time around. Did having a celebrity onboard (outside of Captain Paul Watson) change the crew dynamics at all?

We have had many celebrities on board our ships over years. Daryl was great and was well liked by the crew. She quickly became one of the crew and even made dinner for us one evening!

Is she really a mermaid?

Sadly, no.

During the fifth episode of last season you, when the ship docked for repairs, you remained behind due to helicopter corrosion. How difficult was it to make that decision?

This was a necessary decision but it was very difficult for me to inform the Captain that he would be returning without me. We have since solved the corrosion issue by constructing a new heli-deck and hanger on the stern of the Steve Irwin which protects the helicopter.

Are you and the chopper a packaged deal? Could you have continued on with the crew?

I have two jobs at Sea Shepherd: Aviation Director and Campaign Coordinator. Besides being a pilot, I am responsible for the logistical support for our helicopter and the Steve Irwin . When I made the decision to not to return with the helicopter on the second leg of Operation Migaloo, I returned home and supported the ship remotely during the rest of the campaign. I also worked with our maintenance base in Melbourne to get the helicopter ready to return to sea again.

Life on the Steve Irwin looks pretty treacherous flash bombs, crew members taken hostage, and Captain Paul Watson being shot. Is there any part of that experience that doesn’t translate on TV?

I think that the show is accurate in its portrayal of life at sea on board the Steve Irwin. Every moment is not exciting however and we all have our own routines to get us through the slow days. Everyone is different in this regard but we all find a way.

You guys have been called everything from eco-terrorists to pirates in the press. Has your reception by the general public reflected that at all?

The Australian people have been the most supportive by far. It never ceases to amaze me how much support we receive there. That said, we have supporters all over the world that are just as loyal. Without them, we would not be able to go to sea.

When the campaign’s over, what’s the first thing you do when you get home?

I get in my Jeep and go camping in the high desert with my family.