When Paul Watson was arrested in July of last year, it made headlines around the world. The presidents of France and Brazil called for his immediate release.

But here in Canada — Watson’s birthplace and where much of his activism has centred — the reaction was strangely muted.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau never said a word about his case. While there was some news coverage of his case, it was nothing like the attention his arrest received in other countries.

Which is surprising. Not only is Watson a founder of Greenpeace and one of the most famous environmental activists in the world, he’s also one of the most controversial. Many have labelled him as an eco-terrorist because of his willingness to use almost any means necessary to achieve his goals.

Nowhere is this more obvious than his decades-long campaign against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. On a rickety ship, with a neophyte crew, Watson went to war against the illegal Japanese whale hunt, ramming their ships in the open seas.

He’s been called a pirate, and it’s a label he accepts willingly.

This is a story about more than just whales. It’s about a planet on the brink of ecological collapse. And the lengths that one man is willing to go to try to stop it.

Featured in this episode: Peter Heller

To learn more

The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet’s Largest Mammals by Peter Heller

Watson (2019) by Lesley Chilcott

“‘They want revenge’: Canadian co-founder of Greenpeace, Paul Watson, awaits extradition hearing in Greenland jail” by Linsday Jones in The Globe and Mail

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe