Above photo: Supporters of Mr Watson demonstrate in front of the Danish Embassy in Brussels. Olivier Hoslet/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.
Meet the modern-day Captain Ahab held in jail for trying to save whales not kill them.
Fly-on-the-wall documentary star arrested under Interpol warrant in war on Japanese hunting fleet.
With his long silver locks and rugged beard, Paul Watson resembles a modern-day Captain Ahab, the fictional whaler in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. But he’s trying to save whales, not destroy them.
For decades, the US-Canadian has waged a sea campaign against the bloody business of whalers, notorious for their use of explosive harpoons to maim and kill their prey.
At one point Mr Watson’s antics were so popular that he was the star of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, Whale Wars, which followed his Sea Shepherd crew as they used guerilla-style tactics to block and harass whaling ships.
But a new twist in an ongoing legal battle between Mr Watson and the Japanese whaling industry could mean that he never sets sail again.
This week, an appeals court on the Danish territory of Greenland upheld a prior ruling that Mr Watson be held in custody until September, as he awaits a decision on his potential extradition to Japan.
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Mr Watson, 73, was arrested in July in the Greenland capital of Nuuk under a 2012 Interpol warrant, accused of damaging a Japanese whaling ship and injuring its crew during a 2010 incident in the Antarctic Ocean.
Japan claims that the injury to a crew member was caused by a stink bomb that was supposed to disrupt the whalers’ activities. Mr Watson’s wildlife foundation says their activism relies on “aggressive non-violence and intervention” to battle “illegal operations exploiting life in the sea”.
The foundation has posted video footage of the arrest in Greenland online, showing Mr Watson being handcuffed by police officers and loaded into a van. They have warned that “he could spend the rest of his life in prison” in Japan if the extradition request is granted.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Omar Todd, the co-founder of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, said he feared Japan was trying to “silence” Mr Watson’s campaign to protect whales and other sea life.
He said: “Paul has long been a thorn in the side of the Japanese government due to his relentless efforts to combat illegal whaling and other environmentally harmful practices. His activism has drawn significant attention over the years, making him a target for those who seek to silence him.
“This ongoing campaign against Watson has escalated into a series of actions by the Japanese government aimed at discrediting and incapacitating him in our view.”
The animal rights activist’s lawyer has denied the charges and called for his immediate release, claiming the arrest warrant is “based on facts that are plainly wrong”.
Julie Stage, Mr Watson’s lawyer, also argued that footage from the Whale Wars documentary shows that he “was not even present when the stink bomb was thrown”, casting further doubts on the case.
Footage from Whale Wars available online shows dramatic, David-and-Goliath style confrontations between the small vessels of Mr Watson’s fellow campaigners and gigantic whaling ships.
In one video clip, a member of Mr Watson’s team is seen challenging a Japanese ship over the radio after blocking its path on the high seas. He says: “I will not move, you will have to sink me… I am not gonna move for you.”
Though international commercial whaling was banned in 1986, some countries such as Japan, where whale meat is a delicacy, continue the trade in their own waters.
Japan left the International Whaling Commission in 2019 and says its ongoing commercial whaling activities are “sustainable”.
The Paul Watson Foundation has started a petition calling for his release, which as of this week has more than 70,000 signatures.
The group said: “We need individuals from all over the world to come together and campaign for the release of a man who has dedicated his life to protecting our planet.
“Thank you to everyone who has stood up for Captain Paul Watson over these past four weeks. He remains in Anstalten prison in Greenland for his unwavering commitment to protecting our oceans.
It added: “During this time, he has received hundreds of letters and drawings from supporters around the globe, and he’s doing his best to respond to each one.”
The Telegraph approached the Japanese government for comment.