History
The predecessor organization of Sea Shepherd, the "Earth Force Society", was formed in 1977, after its founder, Paul Watson was ousted from the board of Greenpeace for disagreements over his direct action activism which clashed with their pacifist ethos. Watson soon left Greenpeace. Initially without funding and with only a small group of supporters, in 1978 Watson managed to convince Cleveland Amory, head of the British Fund for Animals to fund Watson's first vessel, the Sea Shepherd.
The first direct action undertaken by Sea Shepherd was against Canadian seal hunting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March 1979. Also in 1979, the group made headlines when they rammed a whaling vessel for the first time. It was the notorious pirate whaling vessel Sierra. Such acts continued with Sea Shepherd claiming responsibility for damaging or sinking multiple whaling vessels through sabotage or ramming. The group has attempted to intervene against Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Makah, Faroese, and Japanese whalers in multiple campaigns around the globe. Setting a pattern that the group would keep up in later years, the group managed to scuttle a Portuguese whaling vessel, though the first Sea Shepherd was impounded and lost. Watson says that he used the money gained from selling the story rights to fund his next vessel.
After having spent the 1980s undertaking a variety of controversial and dangerous operations in support of various marine conservation aims, in the 1990s the group has been described as having undertaken a shift in their public attitude. Having previously argued primarily from an ethical viewpoint, from the 1990s, Watson's group now also started ascribing themselves law enforcement powers, using its interpretation of maritime and conservation law, to describe themselves as an anti-poaching agency. In some cases in the 2000s, they cooperated with official government efforts against maritime poaching, such as in Costa Rican waters, though the agreements often did not last long before conflict ensued.
Starting in September 2010, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has positioned a crew in Taiji, Japan to monitor and report their annual dolphin drive hunt.
Read more about this topic: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
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