About 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 and Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), two anti-poaching and direct action groups 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. Watson, a native of Toronto, has been an environmental activist since his teens. He joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969 and crewed on board the Greenpeace Too in November 1971, to oppose nuclear testing at Amchitka Island in the Aleutians. In 1972, he was a co-founder of Greenpeace. 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. Greenpeace has since stated that Watson was an influential early member, but not one of the founders of Greenpeace. Watson states that Greenpeace has revised their history but Jerry Rothwells documentary How to Change the World firmly established Watson as the 8th founding member of Greenpeace, with the lifetime membership number of 007 with Robert Hunter being 000. The same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars. Watson promotes aggressive non-violent intervention to defend marine life and marine eco-systems. He also promotes Biocentrism. Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. 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. Watson has never been convicted of a criminal felony despite numerous arrests during his career. 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. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice. The Interpol red notice was fully removed against Watson in July of 2025. Watson has created his own foundation, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), after resigning from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and being subsequently removed from the board of Sea Shepherd Global. He has also left the executive office of Sea Shepherd's Australian branch. In July 2024, Watson was detained in Nuuk in Greenland by the Danish police, citing an Interpol red notice from Japan. He was expected to stay in pre-trial detention until October 2, 2024; Watson and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to have the decision set aside. After his detention was extended several times, on December 17, 2024, the Danish government decided that Watson would not be extradited to Japan. He was released from prison and returned to France. He has created his own foundation, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the board of Sea Shepherd Global removed him.
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