Sea No Evil: Sea Shepherd benefit art show in CA

Opening Saturday July 31 (tomorrow night): The Sea No Evil art show benefitting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Above, a piece by Gary Baseman from the show. The donating artist list is pretty incredible.

The opening night event features Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and focus of Animal Planet TV series "Whale Wars," who will give an update on the state of affairs in the world's oceans.

The Crystal Method and artist-DJ Shepard Fairey will both perform sets.

(thanks, Gary Baseman)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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AirPillo

The Sea Shepherds?

Passive-aggressive pirates.
Duncan

There is video footage on You Tube that shows the Sea Shepherds shooting arrows at the Japanese. During the last campaign in the Southern Ocean the Sea Shepherds injured 3 Japanese. And yet Paul Watson continues to say that the Sea Shepherds have never injured anyone and that the Sea Shepherds only use non-violent techniques. The Sea Shepherds decide for themselves what the law should be and then place themselves above that very same law. I do not support whaling but something needs to be done to stop the dangerous and illegal activities of the Sea Shepherds. I would not call the Sea Shepherds eco-terrorists. The use of lethal weapons puts them in the category of being terrorists, period.
benher

Ah the Sea Shepherd. All for taking action on vessels… so long as those vessels hail from countries without a standing military.

I guarantee you that no Sea Shepherd members are going to point lasers or throw acid at any vessel belonging to the People’s Republic or South Korea – simply less famous for their fishing practices but no less infamous than, say, Japan, Norway or… I don’t know… the United States of America where this show is being held.

Good luck on purchasing another ship though. I’m sure it will get along just fine at the bottom of the ocean next to the Ady Gil when they wreck it and it’s remaing fuel seeps out slowly creating an unimpressive fish kill.
Ted8305

I’m all for saving the whales, but those people on “Whale Wars” don’t deserve my funding.

Yes! Let’s blow millions on craft that either sink or can’t even keep up with the whaling ships. Let’s pretend that throwing stink bombs and towing thick floating ropes around will make them stop hunting whales. Don’t forget to buy every crewmember some cool all-black pirate themed clothing to wear when they’re on TV.
- funksg
  
  Ted woke up on the wrong side of the bed. For someone that’s “all for saving the whales”, you’re bad-mouthing (poorly) the wrong people. And if you’re not funding them, they’re not spending your money. Dn’t b n sshl. These people are not working with a lot of money compared to the mindlessly destructive industry they’re up against.
- Tdawwg
  
  Do you know of any tiny, highly maneuverable craft that can survive being run over by a whaling vessel, like the Ady Gail? Do you know many folks who’d risk a swim in below-freezing waters? Folks who’d take having marine nuts thrown at their skulls and not fight back? Or is it just Mock Outrage Time?
- Anonymous
  
  You may not like their tactics, but at least they are trying to save the Whales, which is more than anyone else, including all the countries that seem to be turning their backs on whats going on out there.
  The Japanese have very deep pockets and have shown that by hiring a New Zealand company to fly over and tag the Sea Shepherd when it left port in 2010, New Zealands government along with Austrailia need to get some back bone and stop believing the lies and cover ups.
  Please go to YouTube and view the video on the ” Tokyo Two” and you will see to what extent the Japanese will go to, to coverup their illegal activity.
  I suppose that everyone has a price and the Japanese have reached out with those funds to buy votes and buy assistance to help their cause.
Rich Keller

Who is the woman in the painting? Is that the original Ady Gil?
Brainspore

Phooey! Southern California, I got my hopes up for nothin’. (Xeni- you know I love you, but a little more geographic specificity next time? Cory doesn’t list events as “in the UK.”)
redbeard

For a wonderful, detailed, analysis of why and how the Sea Shepherds are, if anything, hurting the cause of whale conservation – and marine conservation and stewardship in general – see some of these delightful posts from the Scientists and Marine Conservation folk over at Southern Friend Science, the Deep Sea News, and Blogfish. There’s also some great discussions on here about this issue, as we in the ocean sciences community hash it back and forth.

Is Sea Shepherd really saving whales?
Whale quotas and Sea Shepherds
Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars
What a good conservation organization looks like
Sea Shepherd: Friend or foe of shark conservation?
Sea Shepherd: Good or bad for oceans?
Sea Shepherd: Only making matters worse
We Get Mail â€“ Sea Shepherd Shenanigans Edition

Mods: If you think these links would make good for a posting to give this conversation more nuance, go for it!
madsci

If I was going to fund eco-terrorists, I’d at least fund COMPETENT eco-terrorists. It’s a small miracle that these people haven’t gotten themselves killed already.

Watch the episode where they lower the Zodiac and rip it off the crane. Count the broken safety rules, and the number of people participating in the exercise that say nothing to stop it (but point fingers afterward.)

Then try to identify where they actually manage to stop any whaling from taking place.
- Ted8305
  
  “If I was going to fund eco-terrorists, I’d at least fund COMPETENT eco-terrorists”
  
  That’s my dilemma, too. I don’t care to harm any whalers, yet I recognize that the one direct way of stopping whaling would be to, well, to harm them. Clowning on the Discovery channel is demonstrably less effective.
  - Ugly Canuck
    
    What the hell is an “eco-terrorist”?
    What is that, coined by the Ministry of truth?
    Does it refer to people or organizations who or which terrorize or destroy eco-systems?
    
    Oh, it refers to those people who by their actions “terrorize” those who seek to destroy or damage or alter or “extract resources” from eco-systems.
    
    So, these environmentalists “terrorize” people – by destroying property, never life?
    There’s already a word for that kind of activity….”mischief”. I guess that does not sound bad enough for those who wish to keep on extractin’…
    But these activities are definitely NOT ‘terrorism”. Not even close!
    “Eco-terrorists”?! Really?!
    
    Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
    Please…dream up another crazy perjorative! It amuses me so.
therascalking13

These men are terrorists, pure and simple. If you advocate violence against people for any reason, you should be imprisoned. There’s no difference between Muslims crashing planes into buildings “For the cause” and these assholes crashing ships into whalers “For the cause”. I can’t believe boingboing would support such vile tactics. I guess by using their logic, I should come to their office and crash some sort of vehicle into it. I mean, we disagree, and that’s how we solve disagreements, right?
- Anonymous
  
  “If you advocate violence against people for any reason, you should be imprisoned.”
  
  Including cops and GIs? Including the attorneys, politicians, and business men that advocate the use of State violence?
  
  1. Anyone using violence is implicitly endorsing (advocating) it.
  
  2. One can’t imprison someone non-violently.
  
  3. Therefore everyone who imprisons is endorsing violence.
  
  4. People do not imprison themselves; another person is needed to force someone into lock up.
  
  5. Once one person advocates violence, under your proposal, they would need someone else to imprison them. The person doing to imprisoning would then be committing a violent act and would need someone to imprison them, ad infinitum, or at least until we are all locked up minus the last person who would have no one else to lock them up. (an eye for an eye and the world would be blind)
  
  6. Your proposal is absurd. In the real world violence is sometimes necessary.
Marshall

Wow, that’s a long list of artists who have been roped in by the “activism theater” of Whale Wars and the Sea Shepard crew.

Between Paul Watson’s obviously faked shooting/shrapnel incident, the “we can be pirates, but not really, without consequences” attitude of the crew and the colossal amount of donor money they’re spending in an operation that doesn’t seem to return any results, I’m surprised that anyone would support these clowns.
rpink

Calling them terrorists is a little extreme, don’t you think? Paint bombs and loud noises don’t quite equal 9/11 in my book.
Anonymous

If you want to change the world for the better
If your heart is in the right place
If you feel strongly about the future of our oceans

Then please don’t support Sea Shepherd.

This organization is not about effecting change. They sometimes claim to be about direct action but we haven’t seen anything happen on that front since the 80s.
What direct action they did undertake consisted of robbing sailors of their livelihood (by scuttling fishing boats) and did nothing to affect individual national policy.

Finally, they keep the focus squarely on he production of reality TV advocating their anti-whaling stance. Anthropomorphic climate change, marine pollution and the eradication of the whale’s primary food sources.
Rider

When Greenpece considers you an extremist wackjob, you really need to analyze your position in life.
taj

“Sea Shepherd are out there putting their lives on the line for what they believe in ”

And what they believe in is fund-raising and publicity. Lies, deceit, endangering themselves for the sake of publicity, etc..

PLEASE don’t give them any more money.
Iqaluit

I’m really surprised to read the reactions above – “eco-terrorist”? Is this Fox news or the Daily Mail?

Sea Shepherd are out there putting their lives on the line for what they believe in and in defense of creatures that are irreplaceable and inspiring. They are fighting against stubborn assholes who believe they have the right to destroy lives in a marine sanctuary for no coherent reason.

I sometimes get frustrated with the disorganization and effectiveness that I see on the TV series, but they are a hell of a lot less violent than I would be in the same circumstances. I will personally throw a party on my roof if Sea Shepherd sink every one of those damned harpoon ships and the factory ship, although I hope they would scoop the sailors out of the sea and feed them vegan food as they took them back to Australia to be arrested.

Maybe too many BoingBoing readers have been sucked into the “everything from Japan is cool” meme. Well lots is, but this criminal and immoral activity isn’t. If the governments of the world won’t step up, then Sea Shepherd have to. I almost feel like I could go back in time and see some of the commenters above criticizing Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X for being “terrorists”.
- Chupacabara
  
  Iqaluit wrote “Sea Shepherd are out there putting their lives on the line for what they believe in and in defense of creatures that are irreplaceable and inspiring. They are fighting against stubborn assholes who believe they have the right to destroy lives in a marine sanctuary for no coherent reason.”
  
  Now lets just change a few words.
  
  Al-Qaeda are out there putting their lives on the line for what they believe in and in defense of their religious ideals that are irreplaceable and inspiring. They are fighting against stubborn assholes who believe they have the right to destroy Islamic lives for no coherent reason.
  
  Terrorism is Terrorism no matter what cloak of righteousness they choose to wrap themselves in.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Terrorism is Terrorism no matter what cloak of righteousness they choose to wrap themselves in.
    
    Like the ANC in South Africa? The French Resistance in WWII? The Spartacus Revolt?
    
    Goddamn terrorists need to get off my lawn.
    - Chupacabara
      
      One mans “Terrorist” is another mans “Freedom Fighter”.
      
      Kinda depends on perspective.
      
      I am sure the Germans felt the Resistance were Terrorists.
      
      Heck. Didn’t you see how mad Hitler was when told about the Bear Jew? Oh… wait. Alternate reality.
      
      OK… What about the Irgun?
    - AirPillo
      
      Isn’t it a bit misleading and hyperbolic to lump in rebellions against racial persecution, totalitarian occupation, and slave abuse with an organization who stages protests against whaling that escalate into seafaring riots?
Anonymous

A couple years ago, in Jacksonville, FL, I had the opportunity hang out with the Sea Shepherd crew. They were docked nearby and spent their shore time at a friend’s house — a charismatic, eco-minded professor who invited them over to meet the locals and chill out.

Five minutes into my visit, it was clear who played the role of alpha male among the Sea Shepherd crew. His name was “Geddon” — as in “Armageddon.” Not sure if he’s still with the group, but Geddon was the most sociopathic individual I’ve ever met. After explaining how much damage humans have inflicted on the planet, and mentioning that he and his friends have all voluntarily sterilized themselves, he spat out this line:

“If I had a button that would kill every human on Earth, I’d press it in a heartbeat.”

After that he kind of stared me down, daring me to challenge his commitment to the cause. His crewmates didn’t blink an eye — there were 10 of them listening to our conversation. I had the feeling that none of them dared to oppose Geddon. God only knows how they’d be ostracized and humiliated by that chest-thumping, sh*t-slinging tribal leader.

Such is the logic of Sea Shepherd leadership: Obedience. Submission. Self-loathing. Intolerance. Groupthink. Self-righteousness. All in the name of the whales…
- Anonymous
  
  hahhaa….dude. who wrote this? is that you shelton? seriously, i’d love to know who this anonymous person is–gedden would probably love to respond (i’m the “charismatic, eco-minded professor”). ;o) no one was afraid of him–some liked him more than others. he has his beliefs, but so did everyone else, and while there was some overlap, i don’t think anyone else had been sterilized (i don’t remember gedden mentioning that) and most wouldn’t push a button to kill everyone.
Anonymous

These guys are the worst – their business model centers around high-publicity stunts to get them the best bang for their buck.

I’ve seen how they operate against the seal hunt in Maritime Canada, which is a red herring cash cow that these eco-businesses use to make people think they’re helping make a difference. The actual best tactic we’ve discovered to prevent the hunt is trying to find alternative means of income for the people in small outport communities, not demean and attack them for doing what they’ve been doing for centuries.

But Mr. Watson always shows up, because being seen fighting the harvest of a cute non-endangered animal makes much more money and buzz than, say, going up against the international trawlers, who’ve made alternatives to fishing a requirement. Also, his thugs have been known to get violent with the sealers, which solves nothing. Greenpeace, at least, had their priorities in place: they would spray-paint the seals so that their fur was worthless, and the only animals taken would be for food.
johnpaul

I am severely bothered by Paul Watson, founder and captain of this exercise.

Back in 2003 he was part of an unsuccessful attempt by white supremacists to take over the Sierra Club. His wikipedia page mentions it but it is a little sterilized, the “unsuccessful slate of candidates” were members of known white supremacist groups who joined the Sierra Club en mass in order to sway the board elections and turn an environmental agency into a racist political tool.

He may like whales, but I would get behind BP before I got behind his agenda, whatever it was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Watson#Sierra_Club_immigration_stance
Anonymous

I think you’d find, if you looked, that many of the Sea Shepherd folks are trust fund kids. If you want to know the people REALLY going out on a limb to make a difference to the planet, consider the folks who take on huge student loan debtloads and spend 8-10 years in school to work as marine ecologists, fisheries scientists, oceanographers, etc. These people don’t throw themselves in front of whaling ships, but their sacrifice is every bit as real, and though the reality of their work doesn’t make for nearly as dramatic TV, it’s absolutely necessary, and typically pays quite poorly.
Anonymous

Yes there have been problems with things on these ships of the Sea Shepherd, you have to remember these are volunteers that are risking their lies for what they believe in, they are NOT professional seaman.
Please look into the so called acid that the Japanese accuse the Sea Shepherd of using, it has been analyzed, it is harmless, just stinks really really bad.
People accuse the Sea Shepherd of faking injuries and situations that are happening, you don’t think the Japanese aren’t doing the same thing? Duh!!
Has anyone looked into the effects the L.R.A.D. has on ocean wildlife?
Because people continue to believe that this is all for research need to wake up, its all about the money, the Japanese Prime minister laughs about the fact that all this is called research, its all a cover up.
Can someone please tell me just how many whales are needed for research? Has anyone seen any reports files on this so called research?

Wake up people!!
Anonymous

Maybe there’s a rational ecological argument for restricting immigration to the US.

The US level of consumption is unsustainable. The more people who come to the US and live a US lifestyle, the more future generations all over the world will suffer, and the more species will go extinct.

On the other hand, if immigration was opened up entirely, brown people from all over the world would probably move here, organize as a class, and topple the upper and upper middle class in the US, ending the excesses of extreme wealth and paving the way for a more sustainable and egalitarian future.

I personally am in the “no borders, no nations” camp, but the question remains intriguing. Both very high and very low levels of immigration to the US could be better for the environment than our current policy of moderate immigration that ensures that immigrants assimilate into our disastrous culture of mass consumption/destruction.
macho

Ok all these people calling the Sea Shepherd (rather than BP) “eco-terrorists” are utterly confused, but the society does really need to answer a few important questions:

Why do they have fascists on their board of directors?

Why do they campaign against immigrants on FOX News, making the case for more militarization of the US-Mexico border?

Why do they keep targeting indigenous people on the hunt for their traditional prey, like the Inuit in Canada, and the Makah in the US Pacific Northwest?

How does Watson justify needing to make an assessment of the physical attractiveness of every female crew member in his book/memoir? Any thoughts as to whether it’s specifically his attitudes fuelling the reportedly caustic sexist & homophobic climate on their ships?

Until we get some answers, it’s a bad idea to help them in any way.
Joe

Xeni, please try to be more specific than “in CA”; CA is a big place. I had to follow the link to find out that it’s in Riverside, a very long way from where I live (Silicon Valley). Too bad, looks like a cool event.
sweetcraspy

As has been alluded to, the Japanese do their whaling “legally”, according to the International Whaling Commission, by calling it research.

It’s obviously not actually for research, and killing whales is horrible. However, I don’t care for Sea Shepard because their activities stem from Geddon’s type of thinking that Anon #29 brought up.

An alternate strategy that might bear fruit would be for Sea Shepard or another organization to get into the research business themselves. They could get a sympathetic nation, such as Australia, to issue them a massive research quota. Then they could go around and tag that number of whales as “research subjects”. If the Japanese kill any of their tagged whales, they could raise a stink in the scientific community and attempt to strip the Japanese of their veneer of legality. It won’t do much to stop an individual whaling trip, but it might make Japan’s government rethink their strategy.