What keeps me going is the fact that when we intervene, we save lives. I also cannot think of a more noble legacy that anybody can leave behind." – Captain Paul Watson

THE

Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society predicts grimly: "If the oceans die, civilisation ceases to exist, and we die. Protecting whales, protecting the oceans, is really a question of self-preservation."

Since 1977, Watson and his organisation have been playing an active role in helping to eradicate whaling, poaching, shark finning, habitat destruction and violations of ocean laws.

Each winter finds him and his team engaging in a campaign to find and stop, through non-violent means, Japanese ships from hunting whales in the name of research.

Their efforts will be highlighted in the seven-part TV series Whale Wars which premieres on Discovery Channel this Monday.

Catch some of the tactics Watson uses to stop whaling activites.

For one, "we stink up their decks with rotten butter," Watson, 59, said in a recent telephone interview from Sea Shepherd’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

"We have cannons filled with pies. We block their slipway to prevent them from loading the whales and we obstruct their operations. And so it is just constantly chasing, harassing, and intervening."

But the team takes every care to ensure that nobody is hurt or killed during such ‘operations’.

Watson, who in 2000 was named one of the environmental heroes of the 20th Century by Time Magazine, said he has been into animal conservation since the tender age of 10. "I don’t see any retirement for me. I will stop when I die.

"What keeps me going is the fact that when we intervene, we save lives. I also cannot think of a more noble legacy that anybody can leave behind."

People have in the past asked him how he could risk his life to protect a whale. "I find this a very strange question because most people don’t seem to have any problem going out and risking their lives over real estate and oil wells. So why should I have a problem saving whales?"

Asked if he was ever attacked by sea creatures while going about his work, he replied sarcastically: "The only animal that has attacked me is of the human variety!"

Yet, his missions are not entirely danger-free. While filming for Whale Wars, Watson and his team had to contend with terrible weather and serious icebergs. They also had to face some aggressive Japanese whalers who not only fired shots but also threw golf balls, nuts and bolts at them.

"We take every precaution we can to safeguard ourselves, and we have an unblemished record. We have never lost anybody and we have never had anybody injured," said this avid environmentalist.

Watson was raised in a fishing village in eastern Canada, and this, perhaps, explains his innate love for marine life. Even as a schoolboy, he was known for releasing animals from traps and at 18, he became the youngest founding member of the Green Peace Foundation in Vancouver.

Watson is happy that people are now more environmentally conscious. "I remember back in 1972 when we put up a billboard with these words: ‘Ecology, look it up and get involved’, nobody even knew what ecology meant."

But, he lamented, a vast number of people still do not care about environmental destruction as it does not directly cause any impact on their lives yet. "And because of that, people tend to just sort of put it in the back burner. Or they solely depend on their governments or big organisations to solve the problems."

With Sea Shepherd, he is trying to get the point across that individuals have the power to intervene and change the world for the better.

Citing Diane Fossy, who protects the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and Jane Goodall and Brutti Galticoss, who protect the orangutans in Indonesia, as good examples, he said: "What changed the world for the better is the passion of certain individuals, not governments, not big organisations."

His job has certain perks, too, like the opportunity to hang out with celebrities who fight for environmental causes. One of them is Bridget Bardot whom he had known since 1977. "Now, she lives in southern France and I only see her occasionally."

Whale Wars premieres on Discovery Channel (Astro Channel 551) on Monday at 9pm.