If, like me, you’ve been captivated by the Whale Wars series on TV, you’ll be interested in knowing that not only is there Irish involvement in this challenging activism, but that in 2012 Sea Shepherd Ireland are holding a number of information days in this country (see below) for onshore crews.

Irish involvement with the Sea Shepherds, stretches back to at least 1982, when Irish members camped on Iniskea Island and successfully disrupted the killing of grey seals by Irish fishermen. As a result, the grey seal hunt was shut down by the Irish government that October. In 1995, following representation and lobbying by the Sea Shepherds, the government banned drift net fishing in Irish waters.

The mission, as always then, is to stop through activism, the slaughter of marine life and to conserve and protect eco-systems and species.

The urgency of this mission has increased, as a Guardian newspaper anti-whalling interview with veteran activist Roger Payne makes depressingly clear.

Moreover, any kind of settlement between the whalers and activists seems unlikely. A recent attempt to find a middle ground -a market proposal for saving whales, (first published in Nature and summarized in Wired) ignores the highly sentient status of these creatures. And in the interim the Japanese government seems determined to press on with their ‘scientific research’.

The most obvious tasks for the Irish onshore/landlubber volunteers will be fundraising and awareness campaigning. It ain’t as glamorous as Whale Wars (and the suspiciously good looking crew of the Bob Barker) but it all ads up. Safer too. Go Sea Shepherds Go.

More information and dates:

23/03/2012 GALWAY
31/03/2012 CORK
19/04/2012 BELFAST
27/06/2012 DUBLIN