Introducing 'LCVP SELKIE' - Sea Shepherd’s first landing craft which has been named after the Selkies (seal folk) from Celtic and Norse mythology.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1984 and completed in 1985 at the Souter shipyard at Cowes (Isle of Wight), this Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) was designed primarily to operate from the Royal Navy's amphibious warships HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid. The LCVP Mk.4 was then operated by a crew of three and carried up to 35 Royal Marines, 5500 kg of cargo, vehicles, trailers, or light guns, and was also used to support disaster relief efforts around the world.
Our LCVP was decommissioned and sold by the MOD in around 2012, was fully rebuilt and has worked commercially as a diver deployment, search and recovery, and general workboat in and around the East Anglian coastline. Sea Shepherd UK purchased the vessel in late 2021 thanks to the generosity of a single UK donor who was inspired by Sea Shepherd’s marine conservation campaigns. Over last two months LCVP Selkie has been stripped back, fully re-painted and was delivered overnight via road transporter and was lowered into the water at Kip Marina and then to her new mooring looking out onto the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.
LCVP Selkie opens up more possibilities for Sea Shepherd campaigns than traditional boats and RIBs with the unique ability to recover larger marine debris, ropes and nets direct from the water via her bow ramp and winches, deploy divers, engage in patrols by day and night, and land on almost any beach, embark around 3,000 kg (which could be marine debris, a vehicle or indeed any load) and then retract back to sea.
Engines: 2 x 268HP engines with ZF V-drives to 4 blade screws recessed into half tunnels under the hull for protection Length: 14.1m Hull: Shell plating of N8 (BS.1470) aluminium, with 4.8-mm thick topsides and 7.99-mm bottom plating reinforced with 3 aluminium keel strips. Range: 200 NM at 14kts cruising speed with the ability to extend with additional fuel tanks. Speed: 20kts unladen and 13kts fully laden Load area: Bow ramp with 2.17 m clear opening and a 8.86-m long well-deck currently configured with a section of MOD Arctic canopy which provides a chartroom and additional area for crew.
Sea Shepherd is delighted that Coldplay has chosen to support our efforts of stopping the damaging effects of over-fishing and other threats to marine wildlife, particularly issues faced by whales and dolphins.
In 2019, Coldplay pledged to pause their touring until there was an environmentally sustainable way of doing so.
Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ World tour kicks off 18 March. When they hit the road, they aim to:
Cut their tour emissions by 50%, compared to the band’s last tour in 2016-17
Power every show with renewable, super-slow emission energy – with solar installations, waste cooking oil and a kinetic stadium floor using kinetic bikes powered by fans
Provide each venue with a sustainability rider requesting best environmental practices
Encourage fans to use low carbon transport to and from shows via the official tour app and reward those who do with a discount at venues
Ensure all merchandise is sustainably and ethically sourced
Offer free drinking water, striving to eliminate plastic bottles at every venue
Put 10% of all earnings into a fund for environmental and socially conscious causes
If you’re at one of their performances, look out for Sea Shepherd before the start of the show when they showcase us and other organisations they are supporting.
Thank you to Coldplay for raising people’s awareness for what we do and for helping us continue our work to conserve and protect the ocean and its inhabitants.
After one of the worst years for dolphins in the Faroe Islands in history - Sea Shepherd’s determination to end the grindadrap now intensifies with a significantly upscaled 14th campaign year (our 7th consecutive year on the Faroe Islands). The new campaign will use new resources, more volunteer crew on the ground for longer than ever before, and we will have experienced media teams with us for the entire campaign.
Sea Shepherd was first activist group in the Faroes in 1983, with further direct-action campaigns in 1985, 1986, 2000, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Then due to vessel restrictions directed at Sea Shepherd as well as new Faroese legislation preventing interventions from any activists against the grindadrap - Sea Shepherd UK launched ‘Operation Bloody Fjords’ with land-based crew being sent to the islands every year since 2017 to investigate, document and expose the barbaric hunts to the world to bring pressure on the Faroese to end the grindadráp. Our crew have been instructed since 2017 to make sure that they film and photograph the killing of Atlantic White Sided Dolphins which (unlike with the killing of pilot whales from which the grindadrap gets its name), has always been a story the Faroese Media, their tourism board ‘Visit Faroe Islands’ and their government actively suppressed with few images and no video published. To make this point our Operation Bloody Fjords logo was designed with both a pilot whale and an Atlantic white-sided dolphin.
Sea Shepherd’s volunteer crew over the years 2017 to 2021 have documented 47 grindadrap hunts, including 13 where Atlantic White Sided dolphins, Northern Bottlenose Whales or Bottlenose Dolphins were killed:
2017 5th July at Hvannasund - 70 Long-finned pilot whales
8th July at Hvannasund - 71 Long-finned pilot whales
9th July at Tórshavn - 26 Long-finned pilot whales
10th July at Skálabotnur - 2 Long-finned pilot whales
16th July at Vágur - 30 Long-finned pilot whales & 12 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
17th July at Hvannasund - 191 Long-finned pilot whales
25th July at Syðrugøta - 16 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
5th August at Funningsfjørður - 133 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
5th August at Hvannasund - 39 Long-finned pilot whales & 1 Atlantic white-sided dolphin
18th August at Tórshavn - 61 Long-finned pilot whales
20th August at Borðoyarvík - 27 Long finned pilot whales
21st August at Skálabotnur - 48 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
22nd August at Húsavík - 19 Long-finned pilot whales
29th August at Hvannasund - 46 Long-finned pilot whales
1st September at Bøur - 29 Long-finned pilot whales
2018
14th June at Sandur - 4 Long finned pilot whales
30th June at Borðoyarvík - 26 Long finned pilot whales
24th July at Tórshavn - 51 Long finned pilot whales
30th July at Sandavágur - 135 Long finned pilot whales & 1 Bottlenose Dolphin
30th July at Tórshavn - 38 Long finned pilot whales
31st July at Húsavík - 22 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
16th August at Hvannasund - 87 Long finned pilot whales & 12 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
21st August at Sandavágur - 75 Long finned pilot whales
29th August at Hvalba - 4 Northern Bottlenose whales
5th September at Bøur - 1 Long finned pilot whale
11th September at Hvalvik - 210 Atlantic white sided dolphins
16th September at Norðragøta - 12 Long finned pilot whales
21st September at Syðrugøta - 51 Long finned pilot whales
2019
2nd August at Hvalvik - 23 long finned pilot whales
27th August at Vestmanna - 98 long finned pilot whales
9th September at Trongisvágur - 49 long finned pilot whales
28th September at Sandvik - 4 long finned pilot whales
2020 (campaign significantly restricted by Covid-19 regulations)
17th August at Sandvik - 6 Northern Bottlenose whales
19th August at Hvalba - 5 Northern Bottlenose whales
16th October at Hvalvik - 66 long finned pilot whales
2021
28th April at Hvannasund - 10 long finned pilot whales
29th May in Torshavn - 22 long finned pilot whales
26th June at Leynar - 52 long finned pilot whales
27th June at Hvannasund - 123 long finned pilot whales
7th July at Sandavagur - 77 long finned pilot whales
8th July at Hvalba - 136 long finned pilot whales
1st August at Hvannasund - 38 long finned pilot whales
10th August at Skalabotnur - 24 long finned pilot whales
10th August at Klaksvik - 38 long finned pilot whales
16th August at Leynar - 38 long finned pilot whales
1st September at Leynar – 57 long finned pilot whales
12th September at Skalabotnur - 1428 Atlantic white sided dolphins
Video and hundreds of images are now freely available to the media, with many of these published also on our campaign’s portfolio page at: https://seashepherduk.myportfolio.com/
The most recent Atlantic White Sided Dolphin hunt last year on September 12th was filmed by a Faroese Sea Shepherd crewmember and the resulting images and video caused international outrage. In that single hunt a total of 1428 Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins were driven 45km over about 5 hours by speed boats and jet-skis into the shallow waters at Skálabotnur in the Faroe Islands. Every single member of that pod was killed.
The aftermath of the dolphin massacre of September 12th, 2021, in Skálafjörður. Faroe Islands [Photo: Sea Shepherd]
This hunt was the largest single hunt of dolphins or pilot whales in Faroese history (the next largest being 1200 pilot whales back in 1940) and is possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide.
The dolphin massacre was cruel, drawn out and badly managed by the grind foremen with animals left suffering and waiting to be killed for far too long - that it is no surprise the hunt was criticized publicly in the Faroese media and even by some outspoken pro-whalers and politicians in the Faroe Islands.
Sea Shepherd’s footage showed many of the dolphins were still alive when they were thrown ashore onto other recently killed members of their family pod. Photos also showed many of the dolphins had been run over by motorboats, essentially hacked by propellers, which would have contributed to their slow and painful deaths.
One of many dolphins injured by boat propellers during the hunt of September 12th at Skálafjörður [Photo: Sea Shepherd]
Within days, Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet published interviews with locals, whose full names are redacted for their families’ safety, explaining how a lot of Faroese are furious with what happened. “My guess is that most of the dolphins will be thrown in the trash or in a hole in the ground,” said one. “We should have quotas per district, and we should not kill dolphins,” said another. One local has asked Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to investigate the matter, saying “If she expresses her criticism, then it will also be easier for the locals who want this barbaric tradition stopped.” Others express worry that the international press showing the slaughtered dolphins put their exports at risk (the Faroe Islands export salmon to the UK, US, and Russia).
Even the local Faroese press, usually reluctant to publish anything against the hunt, quotes Hans Jacob Hermansen, former chairman of the Grind, saying the killing was unnecessary.
To get a sense of scale; this single hunt of 1428 Atlantic White Sided Dolphins at Skálabotnur significantly exceeded the numbers of dolphins killed during any full 6-month hunt season in recent years at the infamous ‘Cove’ at Taiji in Japan.
This cruel and unnecessary hunt was carried out towards the end of the summer when the Faroese have already killed 615 long finned pilot whales, bringing the total number of cetaceans killed in 2021 in the Faroe Islands to a shocking 2043. 4 days after the unprecedented dolphin hunt, the Faroese Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen stated “We take this matter very seriously. Although these hunts are considered sustainable, we will be looking closely at the dolphin hunts, and what part they should play in Faroese society. The government has decided to start an evaluation of the regulations on the catching of Atlantic white-sided dolphins”. Over 5 months later Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen remains virtually silent on the dolphin hunt and his promised review. However this week the Faroese Parliament (Løgting) discussed the matter though any decision seems to be still weeks away, if indeed any decision is made at all with many speculating that the Faroese parliament is stalling to see if the international outrage subsides.
However, Sea Shepherd, together the London based impact consultancy ‘Shared Planet’ and our growing #StopTheGrind coalition has been working hard to make sure that pressure on the Faroese only intensifies this year.
Our coordinated multi-pronged strategy has already started with Conservationists, NGOs, Politicians, Celebrities, lawyers, and commercial stakeholders working to achieve positive change on different aspects of the ‘Grind’ including working to have future trade agreements with the UK and other nations include a condition that the Faroe Islands no longer kills dolphins and pilot whales.
“The UK and indeed all other nations where dolphin hunts and whaling are already banned must make it clear that they have Zero-Tolerance of the cruel Faroese grindadrap hunts. The pilot whales and other dolphin species killed in the Faroe Islands already face many challenges to their future survival from climate change, by-catch, overfishing, noise and chemical pollution, lost / discarded ghost fishing gear, plastics in the ocean and microplastics in their food chain. Ending the killing of hundreds, sometimes thousands of dolphins each year can, unlike the other issues, be achieved almost immediately if the political will exists – and we as citizens must make sure that our politicians act on our behalf so that our children and future generations can see these magnificent and intelligent species around our shores and not just as an entry under ‘extinct species’ in books and on the internet” - Rob Read, COO at Sea Shepherd UK
Every year, Sea Shepherd encounters more Faroe islanders who are opposed to the Grind, but who feel unable to speak out publicly for fear of reprisals. However, progress is being made and now we have both Faroese crew and other collaborators who we’ll support and encourage their efforts to bring an end to this needless and cruel slaughter of Pilot Whales and other dolphins. During 2021 our crew experienced more support than ever before from Faroese citizens - not only against the grindadrap hunts but also for other Sea Shepherd campaigns around the world. This year our international volunteer crew will do everything we can to engage with and encourage more Faroese citizens and look towards establishing a Sea Shepherd Faroe Islands chapter.
Sea Shepherd also continues our campaign for international pressure on the Faroe Islands to end the pilot whale and dolphin hunts. We call upon both compassionate citizens and companies to boycott especially Faroese seafood products, for tourists to choose more whale and dolphin friendly destinations, and for Cruise Ship Companies to reconsider any future visits to the islands until the grindadráp hunts are banned.
Further information on the Faroese Grindadráp hunts:
The grindadráp (or ‘grind’ as the hunts are commonly called) can happen at any time at any of the 26 designated killing bays around the islands, with most of the hunts occurring between June and September.
The grindadráp has no quota and the Faroese usually authorize a hunt when a pod is spotted near the coastline. Typically, around 850 small cetaceans are killed each year and every member of every pod is killed including pregnant mothers, juveniles, and weaning calves.
The grindadráp would be totally illegal under European Union legislation, because in the EU (including the kingdom of Denmark) is illegal to kill, harass or stress any cetaceans. Despite the Kingdom of Denmark being in the EU, the Faroe Islands is not, although the islands are within Europe and benefits substantially from subsidies of around $100million (USD equivalent) from Denmark as well as having free trade agreements with the UK and EU.
The pilot whale meat which is contaminated by DDT, PCB and industrial heavy metal pollutants including mercury - poisons not only the Faroese people, but also tourists. The hunts are fully sanctioned by the Faroese government, defended by the Kingdom of Denmark (via the Danish Navy, Police and Court systems) and is continued as little more than a national sport poorly justified with arguments of sustainability, history and culture.
The horrifying number of each dolphin and whale species killed in the Faroe Islands since 2017:
Yr.2017 - 1203 pilot whales and 488 Atlantic white sided dolphins
Yr.2018 - 625 pilot whales, 255 Atlantic white sided dolphins and 1 bottlenose dolphin (unreported by the Faroese in official statistics but documented on video by Sea Shepherd crew present at the hunt)
Yr.2019 - 682 long finned pilot whales and 8 Atlantic white sided dolphins
Yr.2020 - 530 long finned pilot whales, 35 Atlantic white sided dolphins and 11 northern bottlenose whales
Yr.2021 - 615 long finned pilot whales and 1428 Atlantic white sided dolphins
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For more information, or for press enquiries please contact Sea Shepherd on:
View photos and videos from Sea Shepherd UK’s campaigns including the last 5 years of Operation Bloody Fjords at: https://seashepherduk.myportfolio.com/
A generous donation from Henri-Lloyd strengthens Sea Shepherd’s efforts to protect marine biodiversity and ocean habitats.
Jan. 5, 2022 - Sea Shepherd UK’s fight to defend, conserve, and protect the ocean and marine wildlife has received an exciting boost. Henri-Lloyd, a leader in the world of innovative and responsibly made performance clothing that protects sailors and adventurers from the most extreme weather, has donated £4,496.31 to support Sea Shepherd UK’s efforts to battle ghost gear, ghost nets and marine debris.
This brilliant donation will help fund operating costs for Sea Shepherd UK’s Operation Ghostnet Campaign in 2022. Enabling more discarded fishing gear and debris from coastal areas around the UK to be collected.
Whilst many retailers were dropping their prices during Black Friday 2021, Henri-Lloyd turned the tide by encouraging consumers to only buy what they needed and offering conscious consumers a way to give back with every purchase.
“It’s been great working alongside the team at Sea Shepherd UK in supporting this campaign. The oceans are central to our brand and have been since 1963, so keeping the seas healthy and protected is vital. Thank you to all of our customers who helped us turn Black Friday, Blue.” - Dan Williams, Brand Director.
Founded by Henri Strzelecki and Angus Lloyd in 1963, Henri-Lloyd now sells direct to customers through their own channels, which allows the brand to focus on delivering on its sustainability promises. By eliminating inflated retail prices that come with selling through wholesale, Henri-Lloyd is able to offer higher quality products at fair and affordable prices everyday, so that quality investment pieces are available to all. Thanks to all at Henri-Lloyd for their support.
Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), otherwise known as ghost gear, has been receiving more and more attention in recent years. Scientific reports indicate that ghost nets are the deadliest form of marine plastic pollution, killing millions of marine animals.
Thankfully, there are many organisations working to combat this problem internationally. Specifically in the UK, several marine conservation groups have thrown themselves into the fight against ghost gear, carrying out cleanup projects with expert divers.
To reduce the response time to reported sightings of ghost gear and to widen their geographical reach, Fathoms Free, Ghost Diving UK, NARC and Sea Shepherd GhostnetCampaign have decided to form a coalition to combine their extensive resources and improve efficiency. The new coalition will be named the UK Ghost Gear Coalition.
From now on, when members of the public report ghost gear sightings on the platform of one coalition member, the data will become immediately available to all members of the UK Ghost Gear Coalition (UKGCC). This will ensure the quickest and most efficient response, minimizing travel times by using the closest resources available.
Retrieving ghost gear is demanding in terms of logistics, and the coalition aims to meet these demands in the best way possible. By utilizing divers who are most closely located to the reported sighting, response times will be dramatically reduced, and the carbon footprint will be significantly reduced.
As well as these improvements in efficiency, UKGGC members will work together to ensure safe practices and use each other’s experiences in a program of continuous development.
The coalition also aims to build awareness of marine pollution and the ghost fishing phenomenon by participating in school programs and public events.
The UKGGC is open to working with other organisations dedicated to removing ghost gear from the sea before it harms marine life or reaches our shores. If there are any other organisations who would like to join the coalition and work with us, then please contact us.
Formed in 2014 by conservationists to address the issue of marine plastics and debris around the shores of Cornwall. Fathoms Free has now evolved to a team of volunteer divers dedicated to dealing with ALDFG (abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear) and marine debris. With their own RHIB for faster responses from any coastline and a great relationship with charters in the area, they're tackling the issue head on by cleaning up the wrecks and reefs of ghost fishing gear around South West England.
Ghost Diving UK is part of a global organisation founded in 2012, run by volunteer scuba divers who are specialised in the removal of lost fishing gear and other marine debris. They carry out innovative and challenging nature conservation projects independently or together with other common goal organisations. Through significant cleanup results and inspiring underwater photography, they have been instrumental in bringing the phenomenon of 'ghost fishing' to the attention of the public. In the UK, they operate in the north from Tynemouth and target wrecks in the North Sea and soon on the south east and west coasts.
Neptune’s Army of Rubbish Cleaners (NARC) is an award winning charity formed in 2005 by local diver, Dave Kennard. The charity is entirely run by volunteers who are passionate about having a positive impact upon the marine environment. Since inception NARC has carried out over 2000 underwater clean-ups and worked with a number of partners in the UK and abroad. Along with clean-up diving NARC focuses on raising awareness of the impacts and working on collaborative solutions along the Pembrokeshire coastline.
As part of a global effort by Sea Shepherd to combat the issue of discarded fishing gear, Sea Shepherd UK launched its Ghostnet Campaign in January 2018 to concentrate on known problem areas around UK coastal waters. The campaign will operate out of Grimsby and focus on the E. Yorkshire/N. Lincs coastline during 2022.
On Sunday night, September 12th, a super-pod of 1428 Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins was driven for many hours and for around 45 km by speed boats and jet-skis into the shallow water at Skálabotnur beach in the Danish Faroe Islands, where every single one of them was killed.
Images of the grind from September 12th at Skálafjörður. Scroll for more. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Sea Shepherd believes this to be the largest single hunt of dolphins or pilot whales in Faroese history (the next largest being 1200 pilot whales back in 1940), and is possibly the largest single hunt of cetaceans ever recorded worldwide.
While Sea Shepherd has been fighting to stop the ‘Grind’ since the early 1980’s, this latest dolphin massacre was so brutal and badly mishandled that it is no surprise the hunt is being criticized in the Faroese media and even by many outspoken pro-whalers and politicians in the Faroe Islands.
According to locals who shared videos and photos with Sea Shepherd, this hunt broke several Faroese laws regulating the Grind. First, the Grind foreman for the district was never informed and therefore never authorized the hunt. Instead, it was another district’s foreman who called the Grind without the proper authority.
Second, many participants of the hunt had no license, which is required in the Faroe Islands, since it involves specific training in how to quickly kill the pilot whales and dolphins. However, footage shows many of the dolphins were still alive and moving even after being thrown onshore with the rest of their dead pod.
Third, photos show many of the dolphins had been run over by motorboats, essentially hacked by propellers, which would have resulted in a slow and painful death. According to locals, the hunt has been reported to the Faroese police for these violations.
Dolphin injured by boat propeller in the grind on September 12th at Skálafjörður.
Normally meat from a grindadrap is shared amongst the participants and any remainder among the locals in the district where the hunt takes place. However there is more dolphin meat from this hunt than anyone wants to take, so the dolphins are being offered to other districts in the hopes of not having to dump it.
The Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet published interviews with locals, whose full names are redacted for their families’ safety, explaining how a lot of Faroese are furious with what happened. “My guess is that most of the dolphins will be thrown in the trash or in a hole in the ground,” said one. “We should have quotas per district, and we should not kill dolphins,” said another. One local has asked Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to investigate the matter, saying “If she expresses her criticism, then it will also be easier for the locals who want this barbaric tradition stopped.” Others express worry that the international press showing the slaughtered dolphins put their exports at risk (the Faroe Islands export salmon to the UK, US, and Russia).
Even the local Faroese press, usually reluctant to publish anything against the hunt, quotes Hans Jacob Hermansen, former chairman of the Grind, saying the killing was unnecessary.
“For such a hunt to take place in 2021 in very wealthy European island community just 230 miles from the UK with no need or use for such a vast quantity of contaminated meat is outrageous” – Rob Read, COO at Sea Shepherd
To get a sense of scale; this single hunt of 1428 Atlantic White Sided Dolphins at Skálabotnur approaches the Japanese government quota for the entire 6-month dolphins killing/capture at the infamous ‘Cove’ at Taiji in Japan, and significantly exceeds the numbers actually killed in any recent years of the Taiji killing season.
This cruel and unnecessary hunt was carried out towards the end of the summer when the Faroese have already killed 615 long finned pilot whales, bringing the total number of cetaceans killed in 2021 in the Faroe Islands to a shocking 2043.
"Considering the times we are in, with a global pandemic and the world coming to a halt, it's absolutely appalling to see an attack on nature of this scale in the Faroe Islands. If we have learned anything from this pandemic is that we have to live in harmony with nature instead of wiping it out." – Captain Alex Cornelissen, Sea Shepherd Global
Each year, Sea Shepherd encounters more and more locals in the Faroe Islands who are opposed to the Grind, but who unable to speak out publicly for fear of reprisals. We will continue to support their efforts to bring an end to the ongoing slaughter of Pilot Whales and other dolphins.
Federal environmental prosecutors and Peruvian Coast Guard sailors intervene against numerous maritime violations during a successful joint operation with conservationists. All photos by Sea Shepherd.
Sea Shepherd Ocean Warrior
In October 2020, U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Sea Shepherd Legal entered into an official agreement, known as a Convenio, with FEMA - Peru’s office of Prosecutors Specialized in Environmental Matters. This partnership supports the Peruvian government’s efforts to monitor its sovereign waters by granting officials access to a civilian offshore patrol vessel that accommodates environmental prosecutors, complemented by prosecution and policy guidance provided by Sea Shepherd Legal.
Prosecutor & Coast Guard
On June 16 and 17 of this year, a small-scale Peruvian trawler, Don Santos, was observed fishing within Peru’s 5 nautical mile inshore exclusion zone off the coast of Tumbes. All unauthorized fishing is banned in this protected area. The coast guard boarded the vessel upon the request of Peruvian prosecutors, who detected the incursion by radar from the bridge of Ocean Warrior.
The trawler Don Santos
The inspection revealed that the trawler’s satellite monitoring system, a shipboard transceiver that acts as a transponder and allows for vessel movement to be monitored by law enforcement, had not been operational since 2018 and that the fishing vessel may have discarded its catch overboard prior to boarding in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The trawler Don Santos with Coast Guard
The Don Santos received fines for operating without a functioning satellite monitoring system, fishing within the inshore exclusion zone, and destroying evidence. The vessel is further prohibited from resuming fishing operations until these three fines are paid.
The mission also revealed that two additional Peruvian trawlers, Mi Pastor and Señor Cautivo, were fishing without using the satellite monitoring system. Additionally, Mi Pastor did not possess a valid fishing license for the Tumbes area. Upon the request of Peruvian prosecutors, coast guard officials boarded Mi Pastor and Señor Cautivo and subsequently directed them back to port for detention.
Earlier in the month, three local boats were observed fishing illegally for scallops within the 2 nautical mile inshore exclusion zone off the coast of Lobos de Tierra while also using spearfishing guns to poach octopus. Environmental prosecutors are using photographic evidence obtained by the Ocean Warrior drone to build criminal cases.
“Illegal fishing is only possible because the oceans are often out of sight and out of mind for law enforcement authorities,” said Peter Hammarstedt, Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd. “This is why Sea Shepherd is proud to support the leadership of FEMA in this government initiative to get eyes on the water by bringing prosecutors to the scene of the crime where Peru’s unique marine wildlife is at the greatest risk.”
Peru’s waters are home to an abundance of marine life, including more than 30 species of whales and dolphins, over 60 species of sharks, and the largest anchovy population in the world. A number of the shark species found in Peruvian waters are at risk of extinction.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society provides a civilian offshore patrol vessel to assist federal environmental prosecutors in observing at-risk and migratory species and monitoring the area for threats to biodiversity. Additionally, Sea Shepherd Legal assists prosecutors and other officials with applying domestic and international law and ensuring that potential gaps in policies are identified and addressed.
“Ocean Warrior provides Peruvian environmental prosecutors with a platform to obtain data on the extent of illegal fishing activity in the waters of Peru, extending the long arm of the law to the sea,” said Dr. Flor de María Vega Zapata, National Coordinating Superior Prosecutor for FEMA. “This successful first mission has netted three trawlers and three local fishing boats, highlighting why it is imperative for FEMA to have its specialized prosecutors working at sea, and showing what is possible through innovative collaboration with civil society, like Sea Shepherd.”
In less than two days, armed Sierra Leone Navy sailors stationed on board the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker carried out a series of covert at-sea raids on fishing vessels in the waters of the West African country of Sierra Leone, arresting five trawlers for illegal fishing.
Captain Peter Hammarstedt and Sierra Leone Navy on board arrested trawler
In the early morning hours of the 14th of March, two trawlers that had spent the night anchored outside of an inshore exclusion zone (IEZ) reserved for artisanal fishermen were detected by radar making way into the protected area with their nets in the water. Two rigid hull inflatable boats from Bob Barker transported a law enforcement detachment of Sierra Leone Navy sailors who surprised, boarded and arrested the fishing vessels Friendship 806 and Friendship 888 in waters saturated with small-scale fishing pirogues, approximately one nautical mile inside the IEZ. Both trawlers were fishing without a license and were transmitting false electronic identifying information, one of them was appropriating the identity of another vessel fishing over 7,000 nautical miles away in the Pacific Ocean.
Sierra Leone Navy on board Sea Shepherd small boat
In Sierra Leone, more than 200,000 people work in small-scale fisheries. To safeguard the environment and to protect the livelihoods of local fishers, the government of Sierra Leone instituted an IEZ where industrial and semi-industrial fishing is strictly forbidden. However, due to challenges of monitoring, control and surveillance, local fishermen report that trawlers routinely run over their canoes and nets as fish populations also decline.
Liao Dan Yu 6618 arrested for fishing without a license
On the morning of the 15th of March, Jianmei 3 was arrested at anchor off the port of Kent on the Freetown Penninsula. Nights previously, the trawler had been documented fishing about six nautical miles inside the IEZ, just outside a marine protected area designated to conserve spawning fish. When boarded the crew were busy dismantling fishing gear, taking apart winches and trawling equipment to give inspectors the impression that the vessel had not been fishing for some time. A fishing logbook confiscated by the Sierra Leone Navy boarding team showed Jianmei 3 systematically fishing inside the IEZ on forty-four documented occasions. Jianmei 3 was arrested, placed under armed guard and brought back to Freetown. Last year, its two sister ships—Jianmei 1 and Jianmei 4—were arrested for illegal fishing and absconded from detention. Both vessels are still wanted by authorities in Sierra Leone.
Illegal catch on board arrested trawler
Hours after the apprehension of Jianmei 3, two Chinese-flagged trawlers—Liao Dan Yu 6616 and Liao Dan Yu 6618—were arrested for fishing without a license. Liao Dan Yu 6618 was carrying two separate sets of registration documents and the captain was attempting to destroy evidence when the Sierra Leone Navy breached the wheelhouse. The captain was trying to shred proof that his fishing license had been expired for one month.
Sierra Leone Navy boarding Jianmei 3
“After the arrest of Liao Dan Yu 6616 and Liao Dan Yu 6618, the remaining eleven vessels belonging to the same fleet all set course for Freetown to avoid inspections. Vessels from other fleets also retreated to safe harbor when they received news that a patrol was underway. It is the belief of Sea Shepherd and the Sierra Leone Navy that none of them had valid fishing licenses”, said Captain Peter Hammarstedt, Sea Shepherd’s Director of Campaigns.
Friendship 888 and 806 caught inside protected area
The arrest of five trawlers in the waters of Sierra Leone marks the start of Operation Sierra Leone Coastal Defense, Sea Shepherd’s eighth government partnership on the continent of Africa.
Under the leadership of Sierra Leone’s Minister of Defense and National Security, the Honorable Brigadier General (Rtd) Kellie Conteh, Sea Shepherd is supporting the Sierra Leone Navy to conduct patrols at-sea to combat illegal fishing through the assistance of Sea Shepherd crew and the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker.
Sierra Leone Navy boards Liao Dan Yu 6618
“The Ministry of Defense and National Security will act decisively against any violators of Sierra Leone’s sovereign laws. These fishing vessels are plundering our waters, stealing from local fishermen and the people of Sierra Leone. These five arrests send the strong message that if you are caught fishing without a license then you will be arrested by the Sierra Leone Navy and you will be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law”, said Hon. Brigadier General (Rtd) Kellie Coneth.
Sierra Leone Navy on board Sea Shepherd small boat
Since 2016, Sea Shepherd has also been working in partnership with the governments of Gabon, Liberia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Namibia, The Gambia and Benin to combat fisheries crime by providing the use of civilian offshore patrol vessels to African coastal and island States so that authorities can enforce fisheries regulations and conservation laws in their sovereign waters. To date, the unique partnerships have resulted in the arrest of 67 vessels for illegal fishing and other fisheries crimes.
Photos by Alice Gregoire/Sea Shepherd
Sierra Leone Navy arrests trawlers inside protected area
Sierra Leone Navy sailor on board arrested trawler
Jianmei 3 arrested in the port of Kent
Sierra Leone Navy on board arrested Liao Dan Yu 6618
Sierra Leone Navy on board arrested Liao Dan Yu 6618
Every year in the Faroe Islands around 850 small cetaceans, primarily long finned pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins, are cruelly killed in dolphin drive hunts called ‘grindadráp’ in Faroese.
Sea Shepherd was first activist group in the Faroes in 1983, with further direct-action campaigns in 1985, 1986, 2000, 2011, 2014 and 2015. Then due to vessel restrictions directed at Sea Shepherd as well as new Faroese legislation preventing interventions from any activists against the grindadrap - Sea Shepherd UK launched ‘Operation Bloody Fjords’ with land-based crew being sent to the islands every year since 2016 to investigate, document and expose the barbaric hunts to the world to bring pressure on the Faroese to finally end the grindadráp.
During 2020 our ground crew patrolled for over 2 months when COVID-19 travel restrictions were eventually lifted. Operation Bloody Fjords over recent years has generated many hundreds of international online and printed news articles, as well as featuring in radio and TV programs. However, the Danish Media rarely reported on the dolphin killings around the Faroe Islands, so Sea Shepherd UK and Sea Shepherd Scandinavia reached out to respected and recognised Danish activists to join the campaign and we were very pleased to have nine Danish activists last year in the Faroe Islands working alongside our UK volunteers.
There were no grindadrap hunts while our crews patrolled in August and September (typically the peak months for grindadrap hunts). However, three grindadrap hunts did happen during despite COVID lockdowns or physical distancing restrictions in the Faroes while pilot whales were killed during a tagging exercise and two small pods of Northern Bottlenose whales were killed after they stranded. The total of cetaceans killed in 2020 was 539 long finned pilot whales, 35 Atlantic white sided dolphins and 11 Northern bottlenose whales during the following:
18 long finned pilot whales killed during a shambolic scientific tagging exercise on the 6th June at Bour.
252 long finned pilot whales and 35 Atlantic white sided dolphins killed in a grindadrap hunt on 15th July at Hvalba.
193 long finned pilot whales killed in a grindadrap hunt on 30th July at Sandur.
6 Northern Bottlenose Whales were killed on the 17th August at Sandvik after they stranded.
5 Northern Bottlenose Whales were killed after they stranded which our crew filmed and livestreamed online on 19th August at Hvalba.
66 long finned pilot whales were killed in a grindadrap hunt on 16th October at Hvalvik
Sea Shepherd’s determination to end the grindadrap now continues with the 6th year of ‘Operation Bloody Fjords’ - our 13th campaign season on the Faroe Islands with more Danish and Scandinavian crew than ever before.
During 2020 (thanks especially to our Danish crew) we started to find we have new signs of support in the Faroe Islands, not only against the grindadrap hunts but also for other Sea Shepherd campaigns around the world. This year our volunteer crew will do everything we can to engage with and encourage more Faroese citizens to speak out against the hunts, to support Sea Shepherd campaigns around the world, and look towards establishing, hopefully in the near future a ‘Sea Shepherd Faroe Islands’ chapter.
Sea Shepherd also continues our campaign for international pressure on the Faroe Islands to end the pilot whale and dolphin hunts. We call upon both compassionate citizens and companies to boycott especially Faroese seafood products, for tourists to choose more whale and dolphin friendly destinations, and for Cruise Ship Companies to reconsider any future visits to the islands until the grindadráp hunts are ended forever.
Grindadrap at Hvalvik of Atlantic White Sided Dolphins on 11th September 2018 (Photo – Sea Shepherd UK)
Further information on the Faroese Grindadráp hunts:
The grindadráp (or ‘grind’ as the hunts are commonly called) can happen at any time at any of the 26 designated killing bays around the islands, with most of the hunts occurring between June and September.
The grindadráp has no quota and the Faroese rarely do not authorize a hunt when a pod is spotted near the coastline. The hunts are merciless as every member of the pod is killed including pregnant mothers, juveniles, and weaning calves. The grindadráp would be totally illegal under European Union legislation, because in the EU (including the kingdom of Denmark) is illegal to kill, harass or stress any cetaceans. Despite the Kingdom of Denmark being in the EU, the Faroe Islands is not, although the islands are within Europe and benefits substantially from subsidies of around $100million (USD equivalent) from Denmark as well as having free trade agreements with the EU.
The pilot whale meat which is contaminated by DDT, PCB and industrial heavy metal pollutants including mercury - poisons not only the Faroese people, but also tourists. The hunts are fully sanctioned by the Faroese government, defended by the Kingdom of Denmark (via the Danish Navy, Police and Court systems) and is continued as little more than a national sport poorly justified with arguments of sustainability, history and culture.
Due to its lucrative fishing and fish farming industries, the Faroese economy has prospered with the islanders per capita GDP comparable with other wealthy Scandinavian countries and comprehensive year-round imports of food and commodities from around the world. The current unemployment level is just 1.7% with near zero poverty recorded in the Faroes - yet still the islands still receive an annual subsidy from Denmark equivalent to $100m (USD).
“The grindadráp is a barbaric relic of a bygone age. A needless hunt of hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins which should have ended a century ago which is not needed to feed anyone on the islands” -
Sea Shepherd UK is excited to launch our new Education Site, showcasing a growing library of both teacher resources and student self-led activities. From UK-wide competitions to informative student-friendly videos, Sea Shepherd UK’s Education Site aims to broaden the message of marine conservation and protection within the UK’s education framework.
Created by Sea Shepherd UK’s own volunteer team made up of teachers and experienced Sea Shepherd activists - Sea Shepherd UK’s Education Site is designed to complement the UK school curriculum for all key stages. Our teacher resources link to both the national curriculum and exam boards to ensure that information is relevant for the classroom while our student activities offer a wide array of self-led tasks for pupils to learn about the vast marine ecosystem and Sea Shepherd campaigns in a child-friendly manner.
The education site also can be used to book a speaker for in-person or remote talks or debates to discuss Sea Shepherd’s campaigns or marine conservation issues relevant to individual Key Stages. From GCSE Biology or Geography to Key Stage 1 information of the food chain and marine pollution, our speakers will work with you to develop talks and activities to fit your curriculum and audience.
Are you a teacher and interested in sharing your passion for marine conservation? Arm yourself with first-hand information about environmental issues and marine conservation using Sea Shepherd UK’s ever-growing resource bank on our Education Site at: https://education.seashepherd.org.uk/ Keep up to date by signing up to our quarterly Education Newsletter so you will be notified of new resources, competitions and student-friendly news related to marine conservation and protection.
Young Sea Shepherd Pirates! Pillage the ever-growing selection of activities, take part in our competitions, and learn about our precious seas with our videos!
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![The aftermath of the dolphin massacre of September 12th, 2021, in Skálafjörður. Faroe Islands [Photo: Sea Shepherd]](/images/Picture1.png)
Every year in the Faroe Islands around 850 small cetaceans, primarily long finned pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins, are cruelly killed in dolphin drive hunts called ‘grindadráp’ in Faroese.
