June 14, 2023 Yesterday, while moving through the wonderfully calm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we passed a pod of Orcas and an iceberg. We decided to transit through the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Cabot Strait to the Strait of Belle Isle to save time and to avoid bad weather east of Newfoundland. It was not without hassle. The Canadian Coast Guard harassed us, demanding certificates that we are not required to have and insisting that we…
OUR BOW IS FIRMLY POINTED TOWARD ICELAND June 11, 2023 This is the third day since our departure from New York City. We have had three days of calm and pleasant seas complimented by numerous sightings of whales and sun fish. Everything is moving smoothly. We have an excellent international crew of volunteers, the meals are fantastic and the watches are enjoyable. The sighting of a Fin whale yesterday has given the crew much encouragement. Seeing the object of our…
June 10, 2023 0600 Hours: 48 Hours since our Departure from New York City Harbor What a wonderful beginning for the voyage of the John Paul DeJoria and Operation Paiakan. We passed a majestic Fin whale, the very whale that we are intending to save in the waters between Iceland and Greenland. We deployed a drone to capture its movement through the sea. We also noticed the many obstacles (fishing gear) that these whales need to avoid to prevent entanglement….
Noon June 10th, 2023 Numerous Sunfish sighted. These huge lazy fish seem undisturbed by the passing of ship.. Today the seas remain calm and glassy, more like a peaceful lake than the sea.
June 1, 2023 The crew of the John Paul DeJoria II along with Captain Paul Watson, will depart from New York City on June 3rd, bound for the waters between Iceland and Greenland, where a modern-day Captain Ahab, an Icelander named Kristján Loftsson plans to kill between 145 and 200 endangered Fin whales. We plan to stop him. Loftsson is an 80-year-old businessman and one of the wealthiest men in Iceland. He does not need to kill whales, but he openly boasts that…
May 31, 2023 It’s been 10 years since I last sat in the Captain’s Chair: that was in 2013 on the STEVE IRWIN in the Southern Ocean. It’s good to be back, this time on the JOHN PAUL DEJORIA preparing to depart for the North Atlantic to defend endangered Fin whales in the waters between Iceland and Greenland. This is an incredible ship. Fast, strong, and long range. The wheelhouse is spectacular with a 360 degrees view.
May 29, 2023 As we prepare for our departure with the JOHN PAUL DEJORIA to the waters between Iceland and Greenland, we are reflecting on the incredible progress we have made over the last year. It was in June of 2022 that I was ousted from SSCS, and it was at the end of August 2022 that I received an email dismissing me from the Global SS Board. Our ships, our support list and assets were seized. The Brigitte Bardot…
May 19, 2023 What is it like at the age of 72 to have everything you have worked for, after 45 years, taken away by a hostile takeover by people you trusted and considered friends? What is it like to see your ships sold off and scrapped? What is it like to see the movement you created diminished and “rebranded” to be something much less than what it was, to adopt a new agenda that is contrary to the original…
May 14, 2023 A merciless, monstrous, murder machine, a ship built for the sole purpose of inflicting horrific, agonizing pain and death to beautiful, intelligent, socially complex, self-aware, sentient citizens of the Cetacean Nation. This insidiously evil machine is unlawful under International Conservation Regulations. We have put seven of these monstrosities on the bottom of the sea. 1 in Portugal in 1980, 2 in Spain in 1980, 2 in Iceland in 1986, 1 in Norway in 1992, another in Norway…
May 10, 2023 MAJOR OBSTACLES HAVE BEEN OVERCOME I want to thank all our supporters that have made it possible for us to do the impossible. A year ago, I was ousted from the organization that I am not allowed to name, the organization that I founded in 1977 and built up over 45 years to become the most effective marine conservation movement on the planet. Became, but no more. From being an in-their-face, no nonsense, controversial and effective movement,…