Who Is Paul Watson The Notorious Interventionist

The Notorious Interventionist: Paul Watson Whaling has always been a part of human culture, and still is in some parts of the world, though in most places, it has been outlawed due to declining whale populations and the efforts to protect and conserve marine life. Many conservation societies exist, like Greenpeace and WDC (Whale and Dolphin Conservation society), and they all aim to protect the natural environment and the animals that reside within them. Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is a self-proclaimed interventionist. His anti-whaling efforts have led some to agree that he is only an interventionist, though others call him a criminal or terrorist. Watson has clearly proved to be an interventionist by surpassing the normal definition of a protester, though his actions of taking things to the next level have earned him other, less desirable titles as well.

He started out as a member of Greenpeace, and claims to be a founding member, though Greenpeace denies this claim. He stayed with Greenpeace serving as a skipper, crewmember, or officer on Greenpeace expeditions until the mid 1970’s. After leaving Greenpeace, he founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1978 (Sea Shepherd). Watson served as head of the Sea Shepherd until very recently. He stepped down from head of the society in 2013. The Sea Shepherd Society has gained a lot of notoriety for being a very controversial activist group. Watson’s “interventionistic” efforts are very invasive and include attacking whaling vessels and trying to incapacitate them. Most of their efforts are against Japanese whaling vessels and the tactics displayed by the Sea Shepherd Society are what have caused Paul Watson to be referred to as a criminal by some