Captain Paul Watson

An interview with Captain Paul Watson, lifelong defender of the ocean, exclusively on Arxipelag Volume II ( Morning ).

(…) Few moments later, an incredible explosion, a 150-kilo exploding harpoon flew over our heads, slammed into the backside of a female in a pod of sperm whales. She screamed, rolled on her side. Her blood was everywhere. Suddenly, the largest whale, trying to protect his pod, rose up and dove beneath us, charging straight at the bow of the Russian ship. They were prepared for this—with a free-standing harpoon ready that struck him in the head. As he rolled in agony on the surface, I caught his eye. He dove, then came straight towards us, rising up out of the water. He could have crushed us, taking our lives, but he chose not to. When I looked into his eye, I realised that the whale understood what we were trying to do. As I sat there, it struck me—they were killing whales for their oil, used in the construction and maintenance of intercontinental ballistic missiles. These incredibly self-aware sentient were being killed to make weapons designed for the mass extermination of human beings. It was in that moment I promised myself that I would dedicate my life to protecting as many of them as possible.  (…)

“We’re completely ignorant as a species of the interconnectedness of all of us within an ecosystem—that’s going  to be our undoing.If bees disappear, we’re in trouble. If trees disappear, big trouble. If phytoplankton disappears, we die. But, you know, it will be a very, very beautiful place when we’re gone.”