Paul Franklin Watson is a Canadian-American environmental, conservation and animal rights activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine conservation activism.
Born: 2 December 1950 (age 74 years), Toronto, Canada
Spouse: Yana Rusinovich (m. 2015)
Education: Simon Fraser University
Children: Lilliolani Paula Lum Watson, Tiger Watson
Siblings: Stephen Michael Watson
Paul Watson is the founder of Sea Shepherd and an early member of Greenpeace, an organization he has at times been harshly critical of in the media and on his website.
Watson was an early member of Greenpeace International (founded in 1971). During his time with the organization, he often employed bold and innovative tactics to protect wildlife from hunters. For example, he would weave his dinghy between a pod of sperm whales and the harpoon of a large Soviet whaling ship, or stand on the ice in mid-flight to force seal hunters to stop. He was also known for handcuffing himself to a pile of seal skins and hoisting himself onto a seal-hunting ship. Due to conflicts associated with such unconventional methods of protest, Watson left Greenpeace and founded Sea Shepherd in 1977.
In September 2022, the Sea Shepherd board voted to remove Watson as chair in exchange for new government agreements and commitments to reduce conflict and stop direct interference with illegal fishing and whaling vessels.
Sea Shepherd refer to the ships it has operated as Neptune’s Navy. As of 2021, the conservation society operates 12 ships: Ocean Warrior, Brigitte Bardot, Bob Barker, Steve Irwin, Sam Simon, John Paul DeJoria, Farley Mowat, Sharpie, Jairo Mora Sandoval, White Holly, Martin Sheen and Sea Eagle.
On the environmental side, Paul Watson is a well-known marine conservation activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He has also founded the Captain Paul Watson Foundation https://www.paulwatsonfoundation.org/captain-paul-watson/, according to SURFER Magazine and the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. He was previously a director of Greenpeace, but founded Sea Shepherd in 1977. He is also known for his activism against whaling and his numerous books on the topic, including “Ocean Warrior”.
In summary, there are at least two individuals named Paul Watson who are prominent in different fields: one in AI and data science, and another in marine conservation.
