Environmentalists found in contempt of court as Japanese whalers demand $2m along with attorney fees and damage and cost to ships
Saturday 20 December 2014 14.31 GMT
Radical environmentalists who threw acid and smoke bombs at Japanese whalers were found in contempt of court for continuing their relentless campaign to disrupt the annual whale hunt off the waters of Antarctica.
The ninth US circuit court of appeals on Friday ordered a commissioner to determine how much Paul Watson and members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he founded owe Japanese whalers for lawyer fees, damage to their ships and for violating the court order to stop their dangerous protests.
The Japanese whalers are demanding $2m in addition to their attorney fees and damage and cost to their ships for warding off the protests.
The environmentalists’ exploits have been documented on the long-running Animal Planet reality TV series Whale Wars.
Sea Shepherd said in a statement it is disappointed with the ruling and considering its legal options.
“We are considering our legal options at this time, including the possibility of an appeal,” it said.
In 2012, the court ordered Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 feet from Japanese whalers and to halt dangerous activities like attempting to ram the whalers and throwing smoke bombs and bottles of acid at their ships. The crews of Sea Shepherd ships also drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders, launch flares with hooks, and point high-powered lasers at the whalers to annoy crew members.
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