New Yorker Spotlights Celebrity Animal Activist

The New Yorker recently ran a Q&A with Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has been documented in an Animal Planet television series, Whale Wars, for five seasons. The sixth season will air footage shot by Sea Shepherd activists, instead of an external crew, as they navigate the waters of the Southern Ocean, working to stop the Japanese whaling industry. According to The New Yorker, nearly 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales were targeted by a Japanese fleet this year. Watson discusses confronting the whalers and the lawsuit filed against the organization that has caused Watson to step down. “The US court has authority over Sea Shepherd USA, and it has authority over me, as a US citizen, but it doesn’t have authority over the ships,” he tells the magazine.