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Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is best known for using direct action to protect whales from Japanese whaling vessels, but he’s also a world-renowned advocate for the oceans and all of its other inhabitants. During an interview with TheirTurn in New York City, Watson explained why protecting the oceans is not only vital to sea animals but also to the very survival of the human species. “If the oceans die, we die.”

Watson explains that oceans, which he describes as the “blue lungs” of the Earth, produce 70% of the oxygen that we breathe and that the source of the oxygen are phytoplankton. Since 1950, the amount of phytoplankton in the oceans has dropped by 40% due to whaling, commercial fishing, animal agriculture and other forms of pollution.

Watson is the subject of new award-winning documentary film, Watson, that chronicles his career as an eco-warrior on the high seas. Watson is available on Animal Planet.

On Friday, November 8th, Actress Elizabeth Lail participated in a ceremonial lighting of the Empire State Building to commemorate Sea Shepherd’s Blue For the Oceans Campaign.

Lail, who is best known for her role in the Netflix series You and is starring in the new film Unintended, spoke to TheirTurn about why she is using her celebrity platform to speak on behalf of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: “I think they’re incredible. Sometimes it’s so overwhelming to think about the environmental crisis and what we can do, so it gives me a lot of hope that there are organizations on the water doing the protecting, making it happen.”

Elizabeth Lail pulls the lever to symbolically activate blue lights on the Empire State Building ignited in honor of Sea Shepherd

Sea Shepherd volunteers, staff, and board members with Elizabeth Lail at the Empire State Building

Since 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been defending, conserving and protecting the seas and marine life through campaigns and direct action on its fleet of ships. In October, the Hamptons International Film Festival screened Watson, a documentary film by director Lesley Chilcott which chronicles the extraordinary life of Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson.

Thanks to The Cove and Blackfish, documentary films that expose the atrocities committed against wild and captive dolphins and whales, the public is rising up and fighting back against the worst offenders — Japan and Denmark. One protest at the Japanese embassy in England is six weeks away (Nov 7th at noon), and 277 people have already signed up to participate.  If you have any friends in or near London, please share this information.

In Taiji, Japan, thousands of dolphins are herded into the infamous “cove” each year and are either slaughtered for food or kidnapped for aquariums or swim with dolphin concessions. During each roundup, families are torn apart, and the besieged dolphins are tormented and held in nets with no food as their captors determine their fate.

In The Faroe Islands in Denmark, 1,000 gentle and intelligent pilot whales are driven into the shore each year and mercilessly butchered for meat in an annual ritual called “The Grind.”

In both Japan and Denmark, the government not only sanctions the brutality but also justifies these for-profit atrocities under the guise of tradition.

The Cove and Blackfish demonstrate the tremendous impact of documentation in general and undercover video in particular. These films, coupled with the direct action of Sea Shepherd and grass roots protests around the world, will assuredly lead to the demise of Japan and Denmark’s slaughter in the water. Following are the trailers:

THE COVE

BLACKFISH

As Sea Shepherd activists from around the world attempted to block the slaughter of 33 pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, the Danish Navy rounded up and arrested 14 of them. The slaughter is part of a “four century-old tradition” called “The Grind” during which hunters drive 1,000 pilot whales to the shore and hack them to death with hooks and knives. After the activists who were patrolling the waters were arrested, the hunters murdered all 33 whales. Here is video – taken from a safe distance – of a typical drive:

What could be crueler than rounding up 1,000 gentle and intelligent pilot whales and mercilessly slaughtering them? In 2014, can “tradition,” “culture” and “food” be used to justify this barbarism? Scandinavian countries are among the most progressive in the world, so why do the Danish sanction, protect and celebrate this annual bloodbath? Please help Sea Shepherd bring an end to what activist Pamela Anderson aptly describes as a “barbaric, psychotic frenzy.”

Actress and animal rights activist Pamela Anderson traveled to Denmark’s Faeroe Islands to join Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in calling for an end to the annual slaughter of 1,000 pilot whales.  She called a four century-old pilot whale drive a “barbaric, psychotic frenzy.” Sea Shepherd has led opposition to the drive since the 1980s.

What could be crueler than rounding up 1,000 gentle and intelligent pilot whales and mercilessly slaughtering them in the name of tradition?  Scandinavian countries are among the most progressive in the world, but the Danish are somehow able to celebrate or turn a blind eye to this annual bloodbath.  Please help Sea Shepherd put an end to what Pamela Anderson aptly describes as a “barbaric, psychotic frenzy.”