Seal Wars: Twenty-five Years on the Front Lines with the Harp Seals

by Paul Watson, Martin Sheen (Foreword)

Captain Paul Watson has rammed fishing trawlers, smashed whaling ships, sailed boldly into Soviet-controlled waters, and stood bravely on an ice floe between a baby harp seal and an oncoming seal boat. In this daring and sprawling memoir, the captain of the Sea Shepherd recounts his remarkable life on the front lines in the war to stop the viscious slaughter of the Canadian harp seal. Seal Wars opens in 1996 with Paul Watson -- holed up in a hotel with Martin Sheen in the Magdalen Islands and facing an attacking mob of angry sealers -- being rescued by police and airlifted to safety. Watson recounts the childhood experiences that shaped his adult consciousness and environmental ethic. He records a history of the seal hunt (including all the tragedies, brutalities, and government mismanagement and obfuscation) from its beginning up to the rescue campaigns he courageously led from the prow of the Sea Shepherd. Starting in 1976 with a Greenpeace crew off Labrador, Paul Watson has braved numerous forays onto the ice floes, many with such celebrities as Brigitte Bardot, Farley Mowat, Martin Sheen, and Pierce Brosnan. He has served time in prison, debated politicians, and quite often put his life on the line. In a passionate defense of environmental responsibility, Seal Wars guides us through the highs and lows, the defeats and successes of Watson's untiring devotion to this noble cause.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Animals

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Paul Watson is the Founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Co-Founding Director Greenpeace Foundation.

Reviews

[Jrohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was the first book of Watson that I read and I became a regular supporter of Sea Shepherd and his efforts to stop sealing as a result. I admire his logic and swashbuckling approach. I would love to meet him one day - in fact, I am thinking ov volunteering to sail with him. all too few people who are actually doing something to stop the slaughter.

definitely a fine read.

[LibraryCin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

Captain Paul Watson has been a champion for animals for all his life; he was also a co-founder of Greenpeace. This book focuses on his fight to save seals from the cruel Canadian seal hunt (which mostly includes Canadian and Norwegian sealers off the shores of Newfoundland and Labarador and Quebec (mostly the Magdalen Islands)). He does his best to protest non-violently, though he has been known to ram his ship into whaling or sealing ships to try to stop them. The non-violence, though, does not extend the other way, as he and his crew has been violently attacked multiple times; Police and politicians just stood aside to watch.

When Watson began his protests in the mid-1970s, the Canadian government just turned around and made illegal all the non-violent things he was trying to do to protest. And they did this quickly. This was so frustrating, as was the way police (both RCMP and Quebec Provincial Police) just stood around to watch. I could never do what Watson has done, though I’ve always admired him for it. I have been signing petitions against the seal hunt for a couple of decades (I think these were the first online petitions I ever signed). Watson is always able to find people willing to join him, though, and again, I admire those people. What’s worse: this book was published over 20 years ago and the seal hunt is still happening, with the Canadian government not only defending it, but subsidizing it, though the vast majority of people don’t approve of it (the odd time it actually makes the news, anymore).

[Kevin Gillon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un de mes livres préféré et aussi celui qui que j'ai lu le plus rapidement, c'est une vie et un combat extraordinaire

[Ray (user2637) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me first say, I adore Captain Watson. He's an engaging speaker and writer, a tireless advocate for the animals, and sometimes a crass loudmouthed so-and-so.

I was thrilled to find this book at my local library. It details the campaign to end the Canadian seal hunt (but also sealing everywhere). Watson tells the story of a decades-long fight, revealing inner-workings of the Canadian government and things "they" don't want us to know along the way. I had to keep it by my bed and read it only before sleeping, so it would last more than a day.

This book was a captivating read. It gives a reader hope, but is also sobering to an extent, making us realize there is much to do on the path to creating a world in which we would like to live, and many who oppose us along the way.

[Elena Traduzioni Oceano Mare · Rating 5 out of 5]

La traduzione italiana di Seal Wars e' completa e riveduta. Se un editore fosse interessato alla pubblicazione, non esiti a contattarmi, io sono la traduttrice, la stessa che ha tradotto Ocean Warrior.

[Andrea Rules · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. Sometimes it got a little boring hearing about all the ladies Paul gets busy with, but that's ok. Totally recommend this to anyone who cares at all about animals, the ecosystem, and environmental activism.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man is one of a kind. To read his story is to peak into an industry none of us can see, but is killing our planet none the less. We need to fight for the environment and spread knowledge to increase power behind the movement.