Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson returns to Antarctic after months on the run

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/05/sea-shepherd-paul-watson


Paul Watson, founder the animal rights and environmental group, Sea Shepherd Conservation, has returned to Antarctic waters after months on the run. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

The founder of the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is returning to Antarctic waters to track and confront Japanese whaling fleets, months after skipping bail in Germany and going on the run.

From aboard a Sea Shepherd ship, Paul Watson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his job is to protect whales, and he can't do that if he's in custody. He said the Sea Shepherd fleet is already in the Southern Ocean.

"I want to stay in the ocean," the 62-year-old said. "I'm not going to be able to do that from some holding cell in Japan."

The remarks echo those made by Watson in a comment piece for the Guardian in August, when he wrote: "I had no choice but to leave Germany. If not, I would now be in a cell in Japan. The question now is what should I do from the safe haven I currently occupy? There is only one answer. I have no choice but to continue to serve my clients, the whales."

[pipoman]

1. The world is small and getting smaller

for international fugitives.