February 19, 2005

Dear Friends of Sea Shepherd,
For three decades, Sea Shepherd has been at the forefront of opposing the Canadian seal slaughter. We have been beaten by sealers and fisheries officers, thrown into icy waters, run down by sealing ships, arrested, vilified in the media, and put on trial. None of this will deter us from the goal of permanently ending this, the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals in the world. That is why, once again, we are heading back to the ice floes with our flagship, R/V Farley Mowat, at the end of this month.

This year, Sea Shepherd is part of a Unified Opposition, comprised of many groups with a variety of mission and strategies, in order to join together and strengthen our chance of ending this annual seal slaughter. The Unified Opposition is organized by Harpseals.org. You can visit their website to learn more about the specific members in the opposition.

One of the major strategies of the Opposition is to shine the international spotlight on Canada by staging a Worldwide Protest. The Protest is being held on Tuesday, March 15, 2005, at Canadian embassies and consulates and other locations around the world. You can visit our Worldwide Protest Page to find a local sponsor, or if there is not one in your area, in the U.S. you can contact michael@seashepherd.org or internationally contact tim@seashepherd.org to organize a protest. We thank the local sponsors for their tireless efforts in coordinating each protest. Our protest pages also contain informational flyers you can distribute, and the Petition Against the Canadian Seal Slaughter which you can print and gather signatures for.

Along with our protest pages, all of the Sea Shepherd Seal Campaign pages have been updated to give you the latest information. You can read a historical account and view dramatic photographs of Sea Shepherd’s Campaigns to Save the Seals; learn about seal issues worldwide on our Seal Hunt Facts page; print out copies of the Petition Against the Slaughter to gather signatures; view the Martin Sheen Public Service Announcement (PSA); and much more.

Another of the key strategies of our Seal Campaign is to highlight the issue in the word press. With photographers and filmmakers on board, we plan to document the cruel slaughter and broadcast these horrible images worldwide to keep this atrocity at the forefront of the public’s minds. If you know of someone in media who would be willing to join the ship, air the PSA featuring Martin Sheen, or cover the issue, please let us know.

Recent media coverage we have received includes an interview I did for Go Vegan Radio about our plans for the Seal Campaign. You can also read an article I recently had published in the New Zealand Herald on February 8th entitled “We need to prepare for life in a warmer world.”

I would also like to send a “thank you” to those who responded so generously to our request for frequent flyer miles. Our Sky Shepherds program has afforded us some flexibility in working with our volunteer crew, and in saving us vital campaign dollars, and your kindness is appreciated.

As we approach the impending slaughter, Sea Shepherd is gearing-up on many levels to end this horrible tragedy. Your assistance and efforts are vital to our success.

I thank you for your support.

Captain Paul Watson

P.S. Our friends, artists Geert-Jan Vons and Roland St. John have created unique seal merchandise to help us raise funds for our campaign.

You can see them on our SSCS Seal Merchandise page.