Sea Shepherd - Your Money Wasted at Auction

As the tragic consequences of a failed eco strategy engulfs Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Australia - with a recent Federal Police boarding and seizure of all material relating to the reality television show Whale Wars - and in Canada with the $800,000 vessel Farley Mowat going to auction, perhaps it is time to rethink the "direct action" eco movement.

The policy of "direct action" fails when direct action fails to adapt.

For many months we have openly decried the near useless tactics of titular head Paul Watson whose messianic vision of saving the planet has delivered a slew of faked press releases, a faked assassination attempt, dead whales, dead seals, and a vessel now up for auction.

The world has changed around Mr.Watson, the media has changed for that matter as well. What worked in the 1970's has all been abandoned by the rest of the NGO community as they have adapted to a changing world. Meanwhile SSCS continue on a path that has now lost its donors close to $2 million dollars this month as the Farley Mowat goes up for auction.

The change that is needed with direct action campaigns must come from the next generation.

Clearly Paul Watson, who decries corporations and greed, is willing to sell his soul to Animal Planet and Whale Wars. While the horrors of whaling take a back seat to a quick cut and edit, we are transported from a dead and dying whale, into a new living room set and an actor selling us pharmaceuticals, advertisements from Chevron, or chemical maker Dow.

Where does Watson and SSCS think the reality television Whale Wars is anything but an eco org being callously used by big media and big corporations? Or has Watson been so co-opted that he fails to even see it?

Watson has run SSCS into the ground. He was come up against an unyielding wall, and his unyielding program is to bash SSCS against the wall and continue to bash SSCS against the wall until the org shatters. Step one, the loss of the Farley Mowat to a back drop of a continued seal slaughter. This is a tragedy that could have been avoided.

The next generation needs to be savvy, they need to foster new media. Most critically they need to stand alone, clear of one man and his policies, whose time has come to an end. The future of conservation is in the hands of everyone.

Send your money to where it counts and not to an eco org that trades your dollars for advertising on prime time and spectacular financial losses at the end of an auctioneers gavel.

Sea Shepherd - Your Money, Farley Mowat

We have been active critics of Sea Shepherd for the past year. What prompted our sudden reversal from donors and supporters to critics, was the realization that Sea Shepherd was wasting our money by Wagging the Conservation Dog.

When you support an eco org you expect results. Your money stands in your stead to effect change, and Sea Shepherd skillfully plays the "results card" when courting donors. From self generated arrest warrants for the entire Japanese whaling fleet, to quotes on websites and in public interviews, Sea Shepherd claims they will protect and save wildlife.

SSCS are well practiced at the trigger wording for well meaning eco donors.

The ugly fact is for the past 31 years Sea Shepherd has failed to stop whaling, the Canadian seal hunt, and shark kills. While other eco orgs have moved wildlife agendas forward and gained legitimacy with world opinion, Sea Shepherd has all but painted itself into a radical corner with fewer governments supporting them and fewer ports to call on.

Sea Shepherds trail of titanic financial missteps and its headlong rush to irrelevance is the direct result of insular 1970's eco thinking, poor judgment, and poor use of new media where the public backlash is immediate and unforgiving.

Case in point Sea Shepherds other "eco enforcement vessel" the Farley Mowat. You do not hear about this multi million dollar debacle because Sea Shepherd has all but abandoned this vessel in Canada, after once again being absolutely ineffective with the ongoing Canadian seal hunt.

The financial loss of this vessel to Sea Shepherds donors is staggering. Currently the Canadian government is demanding well over 3 million dollars in fines from Sea Shepherd and this week put the entire vessel up for auction. Two crew members will be back in Canadian courts in April running up untold and unmentioned legal bills.

These are your dollars being wasted for an unchanging 1970's eco policy and an agenda that went nowhere once more in 2008. Seals are being killed again this season.

As we started to look into Sea Shepherd one other revelation came forth. Sea Shepherd is good at one thing, media and grabbing attention. This is what initially attracted us and many others. Unfortunately the blow back for Wagging the Conservation Dog is literally sucking all the air out of the room.

Legitimate eco orgs are finding it increasingly difficult to get equal media time and financial donations on pressing issues like whaling, sharks and seals. Your financial contribution to Sea Shepherd not only fails to effect change - but damages the global eco movement as well.

Great discussion on this topic here