Paul Watson standing in front of the renamed Sea Shepherd Vessel the Steve Irwin. It is ironic that Steve Irwin was not only a conservationist but a zoo owner and his daughter, Bindi Irwin, is now an ambassador for SeaWorld. |
"Actually oceanariums are in many ways are victims of their own success. They educated the public so well about dolphins, whales, and other marine life that a public that didn't care a fig about these animals [...] Unfortunately this compassion for whales and dolphins is not harnessed as a force against the killing industry, but is instead turned against the teacher. Paul Watson, 1995"
Many might be aware of the activities of the conservation
organisation Sea
Shepherd and its controversial founder Paul Watson. In recent years, Sea Shepherd
seems to have lost its way and has drifted into the realms of animal-rights. Rather
than just opposing the killing of whales and dolphins in whaling and drive fisheries,
in such countries as Japan and the Faroe Isles, they have moved their sites to
attacking the maintenance of whales and dolphins in captivity.
In a recent commentary on their website Paul Watson decries
the death of a killer whale at the Marineland in
Antibes, France. The whale called Valentin died some time after a serious flooding
incident that seriously affected not only the marine park but also the
surrounding area and involved
the death of at least 19 people.