Danish police arrested anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who starred in the Animal Planet series “Whale Wars,” in Greenland. Watson could face extradition to Japan to face charges for something that happened a decade ago.
Danish police detained the activist in Nuuk, Greenland, on a Japanese international warrant on Sunday, July 21. The arrest happened immediately after docking the boat, the John Paul DeJoria, to refuel at port.
Watson was an influential early member of Greenpeace and went on to found the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which was the subject of “Whale Wars.” The show followed a fleet of vessels attempting to disrupt Japanese whalers off the coast of Antarctica. The show aired on Animal Planet from 2008 to 2015.
The ship’s captain, Locky MacLean, captured the arrest and published the video in a post on X.
“The John Paul DeJoria arrived this morning in Nuuk, Greenland, where we were immediately boarded by a SWAT team and Danish police, who wasted no time in cuffing Paul Watson, our founder, and arresting him on a decades-old red notice at the request of Japan,” MacLean said in the video.
Watson’s team believes the arrest stems from his anti-whaling efforts in the Antarctic Ocean in 2014. There was a long-standing red notice issued by Japan for Watson at that time. Japanese whalers have since stopped hunting in those waters.
Captain MacLean’s post states the arrest surprised the crew because, “the Foundation’s lawyers had reported that the Red Notice had been withdrawn.” He speculated that Japanese authorities made the notice confidential in an effort to trick him into believing he was safe to return to port.
The crew stopped in Greenland for supplies on its way to intercept a Japanese factory ship, the Kangei Maru. The size and range of the Kangei Maru prompted some to believe Japan could be restarting whaling operations in the North Pacific.
