Paul Watson
Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group focused on marine conservation. The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was an early and influential member of Greenpeace, crewed and skippered for it, and later was a board member. He has been credited by The New York Times, The New Yorker and other publications with being a founder of Greenpeace, but Greenpeace denies the claim. Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, was ousted from the board in 1977, and subsequently left the organization. That same year, he formed Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group is the subject of a reality show, Whale Wars. He promotes veganism, and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview. Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica, and Japan. He was detained in Germany in May 2012, on an Interpol red notice requesting his detention to allow an extradition application from Costa Rica. A second red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, this time at request from Japan. After staying at sea for 15 months he returned to Los Angeles late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a U.S. appeals court on November 6, 2013 stating that neither he nor Sea Shepherd violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He lives in Vermont, writing books.