Eco-Terrorist – Peter Jay Brown & the Evolution of Sea Shepherd

Paul Watson’s recent huge payoffs to whalers and his own actions of running and hiding behind lawyers and big money have been a huge set back to the movement. Many have taken their lumps for doing the right thing, but today’s mythological leaders seem to take pleasure in running to hide. In the last few years, Sea Shepherd donors have spent millions of dollars to allow their leader to escape justice. This money was most likely donated to save the oceans, not an individual. Individuals can be easily replaced, dead oceans are forever. It was my belief at the time that Mr. Watson was a hypocrite by running away.

The charges were light, but Mr. Watson and the powers that be at Sea Shepherd decided that instead of living by their belief that whaling was wrong and their actions justified, they choose to run away and hide… first sailing the South Pacific in a million-dollar yacht, and then spending supposed exile in an exclusive section of Paris with a beautiful girlfriend half his age. Is this the action of a real hero? All this on money donated to save whales, not play whoopie in Paris. I believe that actions such as these are endemic to what is presently wrong the environmental movement. For this new generation of highly paid eco executives, it seems easy to save oneself and forget the big picture.

Sea Shepherd Eco-Activism:

OMTimes: Do you still maintain your opinion about protesters, since the Greenpeace days, that their form of “activism” is actually ineffective and useless? In contemporary terms, do you think that the massive protests against Mass-Extinction and Climate Change worldwide have the potential to be successful?

Peter Jay Brown: Actually, I believe there is a place for everyone to make a difference. Protestors certainly have their place. Huge crowds of young people stopped the Viet Nam war and brought forth integration. I just believe as funds and energy are limited, the state of the planet demands more direct action. Today we can no longer sit back and just bitch now is the time to act. I suggest we all do what we can JUST DO IT… NOW!

OMTimes: You made a couple of interesting comments about the people and practices of slaughtering of Pilot whales in the Faroes Islands. Do you truly believe there are effective and alternative ways to inform, educate, and enlighten the people about the need to stop the killing of Marine Life, other than direct confrontation?

Peter Jay Brown: In the Faeroes, direct action seems to have had little effect. Over the years, the protests have only strengthened the local Faeroese stance. Even with their own studies saying that the eating of the heavily polluted whale meat is affecting the development of their children, the “grind” continues.

No one likes to be lectured to, especially individual closed populations. It has been said that the definition of insanity is continuing to advance the same agenda while expecting different outcomes. This is what is happening in the Faeroes today. A new approach is needed.

The Faeroe Islands are a protectorate of Denmark, and it really should be the Danish people to stop it. We outsiders can keep up the international pressure, and it is hoped that these island people will step up and join the 21st century on their own. The ancient rituals of cannibalism and headhunting were abandoned as the world modernized, and I hope that the slaughter of wild animals for nothing but the pleasure of a party, should also be stopped. I hope the human population of the Faeroes wakes up and “gets it” before the whales never come back. You would think in this day and age this outcome would come sooner rather than later. In. My film I suggested “educational puppet shows” as a joke, as absurd as the hunt itself.

OMTimes: Can you tell us how you personally, the transition from the two stages of the Sea Shepherd, the first when it was protected by poverty, and then to a multi-million-dollar corporation?

Peter Jay Brown: The transition happened quickly with the television show Whale Wars. To chase the Japanese whalers in Antarctica, SSCS needed more speed. Now I was not involved with the finances at this point, but all of a sudden, Mr. Watson had a new ship. Up to this point, I always looked at the ships as tools, easily disposed of. I never ever expected the ships to last, but it became obvious right off that Mr. Watson certainly started to enjoy the new ships. The show brought more fame, and with fame came more money… Soon there were ships galore each one more expensive than the last.

I must admit they were nice ships, but now Sea Shepherd owned expensive property, and this added a whole new level of concern. Much like Greenpeace years before, now Sea Shepherd had things they wanted to keep and had the cash to defend them legally. Their legal budget went through the roof. The last tax return I checked had 2+ million dollars listed as their legal budget! To me, this is outrageous. Back in the day, people donated to the organization to do things and get things done. It was a great effort by valiant people, and in some ways, it was also so organic, it was “just that easy” – people from all walks of life of all ages joined and chipped in and became a part of things in any way that they wanted to serve and that worked out. It’s almost magical. Lawyers were not even allowed on the early board. The crews were volunteers, and the ships just barely seaworthy. If anyone sued, who cared… they could have the ship. Quite frankly, no one wanted them. BUT with million-dollar ships, now there were targets galore.

The Japanese realized this as did others, and Sea Shepherd assets were ripe for the picking. Lawsuits seemed to flow in. As assets increased, so did lawsuits, and money flowed like water.

I am on record that when the Japanese sued, the organization should have closed up shop… We activists could easily pop up elsewhere and keep up the fight. I, of course, forgot all the money being brought in through marketing… No one wanted to lose that cash cow.

Once a decision was made to own expensive assets and pay the bureaucrats and crew, now there was a vested interest in spending funds to defend the organization rather than attack whaling. Once that happened, it was over, in my opinion.

The Art of Eco-War

OMTimes: What would you say that was your biggest accomplishment during your personal journey on the Sea Shepherd?

Peter Jay Brown: During my time, I would say the biggest accomplishment was our help in bringing the environmental activist movement out of the shadows into the mainstream. Through my media connections, we got coverage on network TV and our message in front of millions of people. Two appearances alone, with the help of Producer George Schlatter got our message in front of 40 million viewers each time. I feel that ultimately, drift-net fishing was banned, worldwide, by the UN in 1992 due to these efforts. Our once radical actions were now mainstream, and Mr. Watson appeared in front of a national audience quite regularly.

OMTimes: A little more about actual conservational challenges. How do you view the Japanese decision to restart the whaling practices openly and commercially, not under the pretense for “research purposes” anymore, and what do you think motivated this regressive stance?

Peter Jay Brown: As I say in my film, I feel the whole Japanese whaling in Antarctica is a real estate issue. When last I checked, the years we got the number of kills to 250 down from 1000, the Japanese only sold 50 at auction. This is certainly not a profitable business.

Once Sea Shepherd paid 2.5 million dollars to settle a lawsuit to keep individuals along with Mr. Watson out of Jail, why not a whale? A deal was obviously made to allow them to continue un-harassed.

It is my opinion that we activists lost the moral high ground when Mr. Watson missed his opportunity to take the fight to Japan. When charged with international crimes, I advised that Sea Shepherd pull all their ships into Tokyo harbor, drop anchor, load Mr. Watson into a zodiac and go to shore in the spirit of General MacArthur’s return to the Philippines. The symbolism would have won the day initiating a show trial that would not only bring the issue to the Japanese people, but to the world. World and political pressure is the only thing that will win the day, and Sea Shepherd lost the opportunity by Watson’s chickening out. If Gandhi or Nelson Mandela ran and hid when confronted by authorities, where would the world be today? I believe a real opportunity was missed.

Continue to Page 3 of the Interview with Peter Jay Brown