Many people in Japan are familiar with Paul Watson as he was one of the founders of the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd. He captained ships that challenged Japanese whaling vessels in the Southern Ocean (Antarctica) that went there to catch mostly minke whales, even though that ocean had long been considered a sanctuary for whales, and that species in particular was in the "near threatened" category.
As was explained in other posts on this blog, Japanese whalers defied a moratorium on commercial whaling that had been in place by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1986. In 1994, the IWC declared that the Southern Ocean should be kept a sanctuary for whales, further prohibiting commercial whaling there. Still, Japan sent whaling fleets to kill hundreds of whales under the guise of "research" even though the whale meat and whale products ended up in markets in Japan.
Keeping that background in mind, Sea Shepherd took it as their mission to disrupt and interfere with Japanese whaling operations as much as they could, successfully saving the lives of hundreds of whales. This continued until 2017, when the whaling vessels started to be equipped with military-grade equipment that made them almost impossible to track by Sea Shepherd. Unfortunately, the methods that Sea Shepherd used were controversial and not supported by other environmental and animal protection NGOs as they included:
- ramming the whaling boats with their vessels
- throwing bottles of foul-smelling liquids onto the decks of the whaling ships
- using flares, smoke bombs, and lasers to annoy (and possibly harm) the crew of the Japanese whaling ships
- plugging drain outlets of the whaling vessels
Due to those actions, Paul Watson himself was accused by the Japanese government of damaging property, injuring a crew member, and obstructing business. Authorities in Japan issued a warrant for his arrest, and due to international cooperation on bringing people suspected of committing crimes to justice, he was arrested by police in Greenland in 2024 and detained there for several months before the Danish government, that has jurisdiction over Greenland, decided to release him, rejecting Japan's extradition request.
Since then, Interpol (an international police agency) decided to suspend the "red notice" against Paul Watson. That means he won't face arrest when traveling around the world...at least for the time being. If he were to travel to Japan, though, he would be immediately arrested.
Depending on one's perspective, Paul Watson can be considered an eco-terrorist or a hero for protecting the environment, especially fragile sea ecosystems.
Watch the embedded video to hear how Paul Watson describes how Interpol has been weaponized by States to target environmental defenders. He also tries to justify what many would see as Sea Shepherd's rather extreme tactics.
References:
Copeland, B. (2018, October 11). 5 Ways Sea Shepherd's Controversial Methods Are Changing the World for Whales. Treehugger. https://www.treehugger.com/ways-sea-shepherds-controversial-methods-are- changing-the-world-for-whales-4857206
FRANCE 24 English. (2025, April 8). Interpol has been weaponized, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson says. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3wuDefxiIA
McKie, R. (2021, October 29). How Sea Shepherd lost battle against Japan’s whale hunters in Antarctic. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/23/sea-shepherd-loses-antarctic-battle-japan-whale-hunters
Murray, A., & Boyd, A. (2024, December 17). Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson freed in Greenland after five months. BBC.COM. Retrieved October 9, 2025, from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj49w2vxkneo
