CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON - HONORARY PRESIDENT
Captain Paul Watson is a marine wildlife conservation and environmental activist. Watson was one of the founding members and directors of Greenpeace. In 1977, he left Greenpeace and founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
A renowned speaker, accomplished author, master mariner, and lifelong environmentalist, Captain Watson has been awarded many honors for his dedication to the oceans and to the planet.
Among many commendations for his work, he received the Genesis Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998, was named as one of the Top 20 Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century by Time Magazine in 2000 and was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame in Washington D.C. in 2002. He was also awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the president of Ecuador in 2007. In 2012, Captain Watson became only the second person, after Captain Jacques Cousteau, to be awarded the Jules Verne Award, dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. In 2022, Captain Paul Watson continues his fight for marine wildlife conservation with the new Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
“We go where others fear to go, no matter how hostile or remote the seas, no matter how formidable the opposition because if we don’t, life in the seas dies and if the ocean dies, we die.”
AWARDS
Captain Watson has received many awards and commendations over the years.
Paul was Toronto City TV’s Environmentalist of the Year Award in 1990, received a Genesis Award in 1998, and he was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame in 2002. He was awarded the George H.W. Bush Daily Points of Light Award in 1999 for his volunteer efforts with conservation activism. Paul was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century in the year 2000. Paul was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame in Washington D.C. in 2002 and was awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the president of Ecuador in 2007.
In 2012, Captain Watson became only the second person after Captain Jacques Cousteau to be awarded the Jules Verne Award, dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. In 2019 he was awarded a commendation from Governor Ned Lamont from the State of Connecticut for “50 years as an environmental conservation activist”.
PUBLISHED AUTHOR:
Paul has written about ocean conservation, the fight for the environment, about historical maritime events and even ocean related poetry and a children’s book including:
Shepherds of the Sea (1979)
Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals (1982)
Cry Wolf (1985)
Ocean Warrior: My Battle to end the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas (1994)
Seal Wars (2002)
Earthforce! - An Earth Warrior's Guide to Strategy (1993 & revised 2012)
Captain Paul Watson: Interview With a Pirate (2013)
The Haunted Mariner (2019)
The War that Saved the Whales: The Confederate War Against the Yankee Whalers (2019)
Orcapedia: A Guide to the Victims of the International Orca Slave Trade (2020)
Dealing with Climate Change and Stress (2020)
Quotations from Captain Paul Watson: Inspiring Words from A Modern-Day Captain Nemo (2020)
Songs from the Southern Ocean (2020)
Desperate Mythologies: Theology, Ecology, and the General Insanity of Humanity (2020)
Urgent! Save Our Ocean to Survive Climate Change (2021)
Cetacean Nation: A Poetic Review About Whales, Whaling, and Saving Whales (2021)
Death of a Whale: The Challenge of Anti-Whaling Activists and Indigenous Rights (2021)
Defending Orcas - No More Captivity (2022)
We are the Ocean (2022)
FILM & TV
A true visionary: Captain Watson understands the power of the camera and knows that it is a powerful tool to affect change, rally people into action, and instigate media coverage.
Since the early years of Sea Shepherd, he has utilized the power of the camera, passion, and pure determination, to create a lasting impact on the lives of marine wildlife.
As well as the international hit TV series 'Whale Wars' [2008 to 2014] with Discovery TV & Animal Planet which followed the campaign to end Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary; there are many films highlighting Captain Watson and Sea Shepherd’s work including:
Seaspiracy [2021]
A Perfect Planet (series): Humans [2021]
Stacey Dooley Investigates: The Whale Hunters [2020]
Sea of Shadows [2019]
Watson [2019]
Al Jazeera - People and Power series: 'Killing Whales' [2019]
Danish Broadcasting Corporation - Horizont series: 'Iceland's Controversial Whaler' [2018]
ABC NEWS Investigation: The War on Whaling [2018]
Sharkwater Extinction [2018]
Operation Jeedara [2018]
Chasing the Thunder [2018]
Defend, Conserve, Protect [2018]
Sea Life Savers: Illegal Fishing off Gabon challenged by Sea Shepherd [2017]
Why Just One [2016]
Ocean Warriors (series) [2016 to 2018]
How to change the world [2015]
A Fierce Green Fire [2012]
Galapagos [2012]
Whale Wars: Viking Shores [2012]
Whale Wars: Operation Blufin [2012]
Whale Wars: Seal Wars [2012]
Eco Pirate - The Story of Paul Watson [2011]
Confessions of an Eco Terrorist [2010]
Eternal Vigilance: Paul Watson on the Front Lines [2010]
The Cove [2009]
Pirate for the Sea [2008]
30 Years on the Frontline [2008]
At the Edge of the World [2008]
Seal or No Seal [2007]
Sharkwater [2006]
Defenders of the Wild: Ocean Warrior [1993]
Black Harvest: The fight for the pilot whale [1987]