MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Whale environmentalist and crew arrested in Greenland on Japanese warrant

Paul Watson has also featured in the reality television series ”Whale Wars.

The Greenland police reported it had arrested environmental activist Paul Watson when his ship docked in Nuuk under an international warrant issued by Japan. The 73-year-old Canadian-American citizen has been known for engaging in direct action tactics such as confrontations with whaling ships out at sea.

 Watson has also featured in the reality television series “Whale Wars.”

According to his organization, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF), more than a dozen police boarded his ship when he arrived in Nuuk to refuel. 

The ship, with 25 volunteer crew members and Watson aboard, was en route to the North Pacific on a mission to intercept the newly built Japanese whaling ship, Kangei Maru, the foundation said.

CPWF said it believed his arrest was in connection with an Interpol Red Notice related to Watson's previous anti-whaling activities in the Antarctic. The group added that the arrest was a “surprise” since its lawyers had reported that the Red Notice had been withdrawn.

Japan's government on Monday made no comment but a spokeswoman for the Japanese coastguard said it was aware of the arrest.

The 9,300-ton “mother-ship”, which set off from Japan in May, slaughters whales caught and killed by smaller vessels. It boasts a powerful winch that can haul carcasses weighing as much as 70 tons up a ramp, as well as 40 freezer containers, each with a capacity of 15 tons of blubber.

Activists aggressively pursued the Kangei Maru's predecessor when, prior to 2019, Japan hunted whales in the Antarctic and North Pacific for what it said were “scientific” purposes.