In less than a year we established the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, we have secured a ship, recruited a great crew, we secured our 501c3 charitable status, recruited thousands of supporters, established ourselves in four countries (USA, plus UK, Spain and Australia). We have partnered with SS France, SS Brazil, and SS Hungary. We are preparing to produce a new network TV show like we previously did with Whale Wars, and we have done all this while being sued by SSCS and SS Global.

We accomplished all of this because of the loyalty and support of so many people that I have worked with over many years. The name has changed, the logos have changed but what remains is the passion, the imagination, the courage, and the dedication.

It has been an epic recovery. This time last year we did not have an organization, we did not have money, all of our assets, our ships and our supporter list had been seized in a hostile takeover.

We not only survived this hostile takeover, we have excelled in our response and we are on course to becoming stronger and more effective than ever before.

The Last Twelve Months

June 2022: I am informed that SSCS will be changing focus from what we had always been to a much more moderate, much less confrontational, and controversial organization. I am told that my past plus the Interpol Red Notice Japan issued on me is an embarrassment to SSCS plans to partner with governments like Mexico. I oppose this change in direction and I am told that I am just an employee and I need to do what I’m told. Instead, in response, I resigned from SSCS because I don’t need to be told what to do by a Floridian Property Developer who has never been to sea on a campaign but had covertly paid for and registered the trademarks for the name I created and the logos I designed. Apparently, that is all it takes to take control of something you did not create.

July 2022: We established the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, and I remained a member of the SS Global Board of Directors

September 2022: SS Global dismissed me from the Global Board under pressure from SSCS. Without a meeting, a discussion or a vote, SS Global notifies me by e-mail that I am dismissed and four of the five directors refuse to respond or communicate with me since. Only Lamya Essemlali, the President of Sea Shepherd France, opposes the unlawful dismissal. She was also not given the opportunity to vote on my dismissal.

September 2022: Long-time friend and supporter John Paul DeJoria donates the funds to buy the Foundation’s first ship which we name the John Paul DeJoria.

SS UK, SS Brazil and SS France oppose my dismissal by SSCS and SS Global

SSUK, SS Brazil and SS France establish Sea Shepherd Origins.

SS Global sues SS France, the CPWF, myself and Sea Shepherd Origins

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation is established in Australia.

January 2023: SS France President Lamya Essemlali is unlawfully dismissed from the SS Global Board after asking questions the other Board members refused to answer.

April 2023: The Captain Paul Watson Foundation is granted tax deductible 501c3 charitable status in the USA

April 2023: SSCS lawyers force FB to permanently disable my personal FB page, wiping out access to 5,000 friends, forcing me to start all over again and this time I know who my real friends are.

Since established, the CPWF has recruited thousands of supporters and hundreds of volunteers.

May 16th, 2023: the John Paul DeJoria departs from the UK for NYC for final preparations before the campaign to Iceland.

May: 2023: The Captain Paul Watson Foundation is established in Spain.

June 2023: The John Paul DeJoria will depart to defend and protect endangered Fin whales in the waters between Iceland and Greenland.

After this hectic year or reorganization, re-shaping and recovery, I am feeling more confident, more inspired and more motivated than I have in decades. It brings me back to 1978, when I secured my first ship and set forth to hunt down, ram and end the career of the notorious pirate whaler the Sierra in the waters of Portugal.

The mutineers took over an organization, but the movement that I established 45 years ago continues under a new name but with the same strategies, tactics and philosophy.

The threat to life and diversity in the sea is too important to revert to complacency, mediocrity, compromise, and caution. To save life in the ocean, we need to be willing to undertake risks, we need to be both confrontational and controversial and we need to be focused on direct intervention and action. The consequences of doing nothing are unacceptable.

Unless we are willing to risk our lives to save a whale, we are irrelevant.

www.paulwatsonfoundation.org