Paul Watson

Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American environmental, conservation and animal rights activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism.

The tactics used by Sea Shepherd have attracted opposition, with the group accused of eco-terrorism by both the Japanese government and Greenpeace.

Watson is a citizen of Canada and the United States.

After working as a tour guide at Expo 67, the World's Fair that took place in Montreal in 1967, Watson moved to Vancouver.

According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in 1968 and the early 1970s, he joined the Canadian Coast Guard, where he served aboard weatherships, search and rescue hovercraft, and buoy tenders.

The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969.

He signed up as a merchant seaman in 1969 with the Norwegian Consulate in Vancouver and shipped out on the 30,000 ton bulk carrier Bris as a deckhand.

The Bris was registered in Oslo, Norway, and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade.

In October 1969, Watson joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing at Amchitka Island.

The group which formed as a result of that protest was the Don't Make a Wave Committee, which evolved into the group known today as Greenpeace.

In the early 1970s, Watson was also active with the Vancouver Liberation Front and the Vancouver Yippies.

Paul Watson continued as a crew member, skipper, and officer aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s.

According to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other sources, Watson was a founding member of Greenpeace, but the organization denies this stating he "was an influential early member but not, as he sometimes claims, a founder."

Watson sailed as a crew member aboard the Greenpeace Too! ship in 1971 and skippered the Greenpeace boat Astral in 1972.

In 1972 he shipped out of San Francisco on the 35,000 ton bulk Swedish carrier Jarl R. Trapp and manifested for the Indian Ocean and Pacific trade.

Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977.

However, Greenpeace has stated that Watson was an influential early member, but not one of the founders of Greenpeace.

That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.

He promotes veganism, population reduction 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.

Watson has one daughter, Lilliolani (born 1980), with his first wife, Starlet Lum, who was a founding director of Greenpeace Quebec, Earthforce!, Project Wolf, and Sea Shepherd.

His second wife, Lisa Distefano, a former Playboy model, was Sea Shepherd's Director of Operations during the Makah anti-whaling campaigns in Friday Harbor.

His third wife, Allison Lance, is an animal rights activist and a volunteer crew member of Sea Shepherd.

Watson has two grandchildren.

He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012.

An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.

After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested".

He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society 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 is living in Vermont, writing books.

He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014, but has since returned to the United States.

Watson married his fourth wife Yana Rusinovich on February 14, 2015, in Paris.

Watson and Rusinovich have two sons.

Watson ran for parliament in Canada's federal elections twice.

In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.

He has created his own foundation Captain Paul Watson, as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the board of Sea Shepherd Global removed him.

He has also left the executive office of the Australian branch.

According to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson was born in Toronto, the oldest child to Anthony Joseph Watson and Annamarie Larsen, and grew up in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, along with two younger sisters and three younger brothers.

As a child he was a member of the Kindness Club, which he has credited with teaching him to "respect and defend animals".