$10,000

Posted September 16, 2004

Taiji Dolphin Massacre Documentation

For the best and most graphic documentation of the Taji, Japan, dolphin slaughter. This reward will be paid to the best video and photographic evidence of the Taiji slaughter between October 1, 2004 and March 1, 2005.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is offering a prize of USD$10,000 to the person or persons who can best document the annual slaughter of dolphins and small cetaceans in Taiji, Japan.

In offering the prize, Captain Paul Watson explained the reasons for this bizarre contest.

"Documenting this slaughter is a distasteful and unpleasant task, but it must be undertaken. The authorities and the fishing community of Taiji have made it very difficult for Sea Shepherd crew to document the dolphin drive and slaughter. What is needed is some motivation for Japanese people and documentarians to intervene, and a $10,000 prize is certainly motivation. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will pay the prize to whomever delivers the most graphic and damning images of the killing of dolphins and small cetaceans by Taiji fishermen. The challenge is open to anyone, and the winner must allow Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to utilize the images for the purpose of further exposing the annual dolphin and small cetacean slaughter."

The prize is open to people utilizing the media of video film, digital or film camera images. The dolphin killing season officially begins on October 1st. Every year thousands of dolphins and other small cetaceans are driven into the bay or netted at sea. They are drowned in nets, clubbed, knifed and stabbed with spears repeatedly until the sea runs bright red with blood.

To apply for the prize, images must be sent to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The Society will pay $10,000 for the best images based on quality and graphic documentation. Images from non-winning entries may be eligible for purchase by the Society for $500 per minute for video footage or $250 per photograph. The images must be taken between October 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005.

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$5,000

Posted October 14, 2004

Sea Shepherd Offers Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest and Conviction of Person(s) Injuring or Harassing Harbor Seals at Casca Beach, La Jolla Harbor, CA

Captain Watson informed the San Diego City Council that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is posting a $5,000 reward for any evidence or information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act in connection with the seals at La Jolla.

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$5,000

Posted August 10, 2004

Arrest & Conviction of Alaskan Grizzly Serial Killer

The late Timothy Treadwell, a member of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Board of Advisers, died almost a year ago in the Katmai National Park in Alaska. He died from a bear attack.

One of the reasons that Tim claimed he stayed in Katmai longer than he intended last year was the presence of bear poachers.

After his death, his critics and especially the news media in Alaska ridiculed Tim's claim that there were active poachers in Katmai. They disputed his claim that he had not only found evidence of poaching camps but also that his annual long summer visits were discouraging poaching in Katmai.

The facts speak for themselves.

During the fourteen summers that Timothy Treadwell spent in the area he referred to as the Grizzly Maze, he was able to prevent the poaching of the bears that he watched over. He had been threatened, but the poachers knew that killing a bear in Katmai was illegal and left the area when they saw him or saw evidence of his camp.

This year, the consequences of Tim's absence brought tragedy upon the Katmai Grizzly population.

Four Grizzly bears were senselessly slain last week in Katmai National Park and a young Grizzly cub is missing. There is now a criminal investigation by National Park Service rangers assisted by Alaska State Troopers.

The first three bears found over the weekend included a 500-pound nursing mother and her 300-pound, two- to three-year old cub. They were viciously slaughtered near Funnel Creek, about 12-miles south of Iliamna Lake in Katmai, 120-miles west of Homer, Alaska. A third bear was found a little further down the stream from the other two. A fourth bear was shot a few days later.

Because the first bear was a nursing mother, a young cub has been orphaned, is missing and will most likely die.

Claws were removed from the bears although the hides were left on the carcasses. The bodies were mutilated indicating the possibility that the gall bladders were taken. Gall bladders are in demand by the Asian quack medical profession.

On Tuesday, August 10, Captain Paul Watson contacted ranger Missy Epping at the Katmai National Park and offered a $5,000 reward to be added to the $10,000 reward already announced by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.

"I am hopeful that the rewards will bring forth information that will lead to the arrest of the sadistic killer or killers responsible for this despicable slaughter," said Captain Paul Watson, the president of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society based in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is directing people with information relevant to this case to contact Katmai National Park and Preserve at 1-907-246-2127.

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$5,000

Posted September 25, 2003

Sea Shepherd Posts Reward in St. Lucia
Jane Tipson Murder Case

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has posted a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who murdered Jane Tipson in St. Lucia last week.

Captain Paul Watson has notified the St. Lucia police of the reward.

The crime scene was contaminated by police officers and little forensic evidence was found. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is hopeful that the reward, (a substantial sum in St. Lucia), will bring forth someone with information or evidence relating to the murder.

Jane Tipson, a dedicated conservationist and animal rights activist, was murdered as she drove onto her property in St. Lucia, around 1:30 a.m., on Wednesday, September 17, 2003. She was shot in the head at close range.

The murder was clearly a contract killing. There is some question as to who was involved and why they would want Jane killed. An article about Jane's murder appeared in the London Times Sunday edition on page three, and there they eluded to the probability that the contract killing was carried out because of her work against the Dolphin Fantaseas plans to create a dolphin encounter tourist attraction in St. Lucia and other islands in the Caribbean region. This group has a very shady past, and currently has dolphin encounter operations in Anguilla and Antigua.

Jane moved to St. Lucia from her native Devonshire, England, some 30 years ago. She was co-founder of the Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness, and was responsible for the ECCEA regional program in St. Lucia. She also created the Whale and Dolphin Watching Association, and was responsible for the development of a now flourishing whale-watching industry in St.Lucia. She was tireless in her leadership of many anti-captivity campaigns. She founded and dedicated her time and virtually all of her income to the St. Lucia Animal Protection Society (SLAPS) protecting and caring for hundreds of wild and domestic animals in a way few people have ever done.

As is the case with many environmental and animal activists, there was an ongoing attempt to discredit Jane and she was continuously harassed and threatened. We all, especially the animals, have lost another truly wonderful person to the greed and corruption of those who profit at the expense of the animals and the environment. Jane would want us to continue the fight for conservation and protection of the animals and we must do just that.

Jane Tipson was very helpful to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in the summer of 2001 when the Sea Shepherd flagship Ocean Warrior was in Castries Harbor investigating illegal whaling activities in St. Lucia.

Captain Paul Watson responding to news of her murder said, "Because of the enemies Jane made in high places, and because of her efforts to help animals in St. Lucia, I fear that the investigation into her death will not be a priority. There was certainly no care to protect the integrity of the crime scene and valuable forensic evidence was lost because of the police. I remember my life being threatened when Sea Shepherd's ship was last in St. Lucia, and my experience there illustrates to me just what a courageous heroine Jane was in continuing to champion the animals and habitats in the face of very real threats of violence.

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$2,500

Posted March 27, 2004

Sea Shepherd Matches PeTA Reward of $2,500 Reward for
New England Serial Seal Killer

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has posted a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a numerous seal mutilations in New England.

This reward matches $2,500 reward posted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) making this a $5,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the serial killer and mutilator of seals.

Ten seals have been killed over the last eight months. Four of the animals were skinned and three had their genitalia removed. Four were decapitated. One seal was shot and survived.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has notified the National Marine Fisheries Service of the reward, and will pay the reward upon the conviction of any person successfully prosecuted for this crime.

The Society does not need to know the identity of the informant, and would request that the information be given to the National Marine Fisheries agents investigating the case.

According to Andy Cohen, regional law enforcement director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Investigating these [mutilations] is not unlike investigating a homicide - somebody out there knows something."

That somebody could be $5,000 richer, and would help prevent the people or people responsible for this cruelty and death from inflicting further inhumane and lethal acts against innocent marine mammals.

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$1,000

Posted January 16, 2004

Sea Shepherd Offers $1,000 for Arrest of
Florida Ghost Net Culprits

For years the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has warned of the dangers of ghost nets. Over the years we have pulled these deadly floating pieces of discarded and lost monofilament nets from the sea.

Our concern was vividly illustrated this week with a report from Port Salerno, Florida, where over a thousand sharks and fish were found dead and rotting in a large abandoned 500-meter fishing net that was pulled from the ocean from a depth of 80-feet. Also found in the net was an endangered loggerhead turtle.

The mid-sized loggerhead turtle, bloated and dead for days, was measured and documented by biologists from the Florida Marine Research Institute and later taken to a laboratory in Tequesta to be preserved as evidence.

"We have an investigation under way (in) reference to that ghost net," said Jeff Radonski, a special agent with NOAA's fisheries enforcement division in Miami. "It's a crime scene just like anywhere else. We pick up clues and leads from that."

The net, made of thick fabric lines to catch coastal sharks, was first spotted last Friday off the coast of St. Lucie Inlet.

The "sheer weight of all the animals" kept the Coast Guard from retrieving the net last week, divers said.

The divers also videotaped the net and took photographs to be used as evidence. Then the dead sharks and fish were disposed about 12-miles offshore.

"You are responsible for the gear you set out there," Radonski said. "We could have Endangered Species Act violations, and that may elevate itself to criminal intent."

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the owners of the vessel that discarded the net.

"It is this kind of gross irresponsibility that is causing the escalating decline in shark numbers and threatening the endangered loggerhead. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is committed to working with law enforcement agencies to prevent these violations and to punish those responsible of such wanton destruction of like in our oceans," said Captain Paul Watson.

Our concern was vividly illustrated this week with a report from Port Salerno, Florida, where over a thousand sharks and fish were found dead and rotting in a large abandoned 500-meter fishing net that was pulled from the ocean from a depth of 80-feet. Also found in the net was an endangered loggerhead turtle.

The mid-sized loggerhead turtle, bloated and dead for days, was measured and documented by biologists from the Florida Marine Research Institute and later taken to a laboratory in Tequesta to be preserved as evidence.

"We have an investigation under way (in) reference to that ghost net," said Jeff Radonski, a special agent with NOAA's fisheries enforcement division in Miami. "It's a crime scene just like anywhere else. We pick up clues and leads from that."

The net, made of thick fabric lines to catch coastal sharks, was first spotted last Friday off the coast of St. Lucie Inlet.

The "sheer weight of all the animals" kept the Coast Guard from retrieving the net last week, divers said.

The divers also videotaped the net and took photographs to be used as evidence. Then the dead sharks and fish were disposed about 12-miles offshore.

"You are responsible for the gear you set out there," Radonski said. "We could have Endangered Species Act violations, and that may elevate itself to criminal intent."

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the owners of the vessel that discarded the net.

"It is this kind of gross irresponsibility that is causing the escalating decline in shark numbers and threatening the endangered loggerhead. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is committed to working with law enforcement agencies to prevent these violations and to punish those responsible of such wanton destruction of like in our oceans," said Captain Paul Watson.

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