On June 5, maverick conservationist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson wrote a biting blog titled “A Year of Living Precariously,” a summary of the unexpected and dangerous twists and turns that being an ocean warrior entails.
He spared no love for Costa Rica, which along with Japan, has kept Watson on the run from charges that he and his crew tried to murder a crew of Costa Rican shark-finners in their tiny boat off the Pacific coast of Guatemala in 2002.
“May 18th marked a full year since Japan and Japan’s co-conspirator Costa Rica had me detained in Frankfurt, Germany on politically motivated charges,” Watson wrote. “However despite the fact that Japan has invested close to thirty million dollars to destroy Sea Shepherd and myself, I remain free and Sea Shepherd continues to be an effective organization.”
Not only is Watson still a free man, but he’s still fighting as only Sea Shepherd can – whether you agree with the group’s tactics or not – stepping in where the world’s governments fail to protect the oceans.
And last month, Watson announced “Operation Relentless,” Sea Shepherd’s 10th campaign to the Southern Ocean to battle the Japanese whaling industry, the subject of Animal Planet’s popular “Whale Wars” TV series.
On Wednesday, Jani Schulz, president of Costa Rica’s Rainforest Radio, will broadcast an exclusive interview with Watson, in which the fiery 62-year-old captain is expected to make some newsworthy announcements, including updates about his ongoing charges in Costa Rica for attempted shipwrecking over the 2002 incident.
“One thing I know is that if oceans die, we die. So one of the topics that we’ll hit on is personal responsibility, that we can’t expect governments and NGOs to solve all the world’s problems. Every single person needs to become active,” Schulz told The Tico Times. “I think a lot of interesting things will come out in this interview.”
Another issue that is certain to come up is the May 31 murder of Costa Rican turtle conservationist Jairo Mora, which again catapulted Costa Rica into the international limelight – for all the wrong reasons – much like Watson’s arrest last year in Germany. Watson has already pledged $30,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mora’s killers – thought to be poachers, drug traffickers or hit men. International groups have collected nearly $60,000 in reward money, but a month later, Costa Rican authorities still have made no arrests in the case.
“There are some serious issues he’ll be talking about, so if you care about the environment, you need to tune in,” Schulz said.
The interview airs at noon on Wednesday, Costa Rica time, or 11 a.m. on the west coast of the United States. Tune in at rainforestradio.com or 960 AM in Costa Rica.
And to clarify one point, Schulz added, “No, I don’t know where he is.”
