NEWS
A VIRTUAL EDA MOVIE SCREENING
WATSON
We hope that everyone who registered to watch our first EDA Movie Screening of 2021 was able to find the time to watch Watson on our online Vimeo portal from the 11-15 of February. Our EDA Online Movie Screenings are only accessible to our current EDA members and their families. Our screenings have limited viewing access and registration to join them is necessary in order to receive the special link to view the films. In order to join our online screenings, EDA membership can be acquired or renewed on our website: www.emiratesdiving.com/membership-form. We want to thank those who took the time to send us these messages: “A fascinating story and some wonderful film of whales. I had never heard of Watson or Sea Shepherd but was so impressed by his fearlessness and determination. The footage of the latest destructive methods for mass fishing was upsetting.” DAVID RIDDLE “Thank you so much for the opportunity to see this documentary, it was quite something. I had vaguely heard of Sea Shepherd, and now feel ashamed of my ignorance. A remarkable film altogether, at different levels, with a lot of beauty and emotion as well as very challenging and thought-provoking stuff, both about the oceans and human cruelty and exploitation, and also about what makes for effective campaigning.” JAMES RAMSAY “It is almost beyond belief how little respect some nations have for our wildlife and of course David Attenborough has been telling us this for a long time. The scenes in the film of seal bashing, brutal whaling and the removal of fins from living sharks so that they just die because they can no longer navigate are appalling. Also the questions of overfishing and water dragging. Watson and his colleagues must be admired for their courage in taking these extraordinary risks to protect our environment. We must all understand the potential consequences of the damage to our planet before it really is too late to recover.” MIKE GREEN “I learnt a lot of extra stuff about Sea Shepherd & Watson… I’ve been donating for a while now!” JAMES LAVER
SYNOPSIS Like a crime-fighting superhero of the high seas, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has spent his life sailing the globe to keep our oceans and their inhabitants safe. A daring ship’s captain with no fear of danger, Watson and his crews have confronted illegal whaling vessels from Europe to the Southern Ocean, seal hunters in Canada, and shark finners in Central America. Impervious to threats, with more than one nation issuing warrants for his arrest, Watson continues to intervene on behalf of his “clients”: the ocean 6
DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT | MARCH 2021
creatures endangered by over fishing and illegal activities on the high seas.
and an international fleet of 13 ships, the world’s largest private navy.
As a teenager in the 1960s, Watson left an abusive home and shipped out as a deck hand on a merchant vessel. Upon his return he helped found Greenpeace, putting himself in harm’s way to protect marine mammals. But in 1977, when his bold interventions got him kicked off of Greenpeace’s board of directors, he launched Sea Shepherd with a ragtag crew and a single ship. Four decades later, the directaction group has chapters around the world
Blending revealing contemporary interviews with Watson, archival clips of Sea Shepherd’s dramatic encounters, and spectacular underwater nature footage, award-winning documentarian Lesley Chilcott (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”) paints a fascinating portrait of a man willing to put his own life and liberty at risk in a relentless quest to protect the oceans and the marine life within.
