CAPTAIN PAUL F. WATSON

Born: Toronto, Ontario – December 2, 1950

• Marine Wildlife Conservationist •  Environmentalist  • Master Mariner •  Author and Writer  •
•  Professional Dive Master  • University Instructor and Public Speaker •

For 30 years, Captain Paul Watson has been at the helm of the world's most active marine protection non-profit organization – Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 

Sea Career

Paul Watson's career as a Master Mariner began in 1968 as a seaman with the Swedish, British and Canadian merchant marines. This combined with his service with the served in the Canadian Coast Guard for two years in the early seventies provided him with experience on all the world's oceans. Paul has served as Master on seven different Sea Shepherd ships since 1978. He currently commands the 657-ton Canadian-registered research ship Farley Mowat and the Canadian-registered research and patrol ship Sirenian.

Education and Presentations

Paul majored in communications and linguistics at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He has lectured extensively at universities around the world, and was a professor of Ecology at Pasadena College of Design , CA, and an instructor in UCLA’s Honors Program for 1998 and 1999.

Paul Watson With the Dolly LlamaHistory of Activism – Environmental Pioneer

In 1969, Paul joined with other members of the Sierra Club in organizing a voyage to protest nuclear weapons testing in the Aleutians.  The group they formed was the Don't Make a Wave Committee.  In November 1971, Paul joined the crew of the Greenpeace Too for a voyage into the nuclear test site at Amchitka Island. In 1972, Paul, along with several of the other crewmembers from that landmark expedition, established the Greenpeace Foundation (GP) in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 From 1971-77, Paul served as First Officer on all the GP voyages.  Utilizing his Canadian Coast Guard experience, he organized the operation of activists in zodiacs to intervene between the harpoons and the whales. During a confrontation with a Russian whaler in 1975, a harpooned and dying sperm whale loomed over Paul's small boat.  He vowed to become a lifelong defender of the whales and all creatures of the seas.

 In 1976-77, he led the GP expeditions to protect harp seals on the ice floes off Newfoundland.  In 1977, Paul left GP because he felt the original goals of the organization were being compromised, and because he saw a global need to continue direct-action, conservation activities on the high seas by an organization that would enforce laws meant to protect marine wildlife.

That same year, Paul founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society – dedicated to research, investigation, and enforcement of laws, treaties, resolutions, and regulations established to protect marine wildlife worldwide. In December 1978, with the assistance of the Fund for Animals, Paul purchased a North Atlantic trawler in Britain and converted her into the Society’s first conservation enforcement vessel Sea Shepherd. 

Affiliations:

 Awards and Commendations

 Published Works

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