Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK

We are delighted to announce that our registered charity has been renamed the ‘Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK’ (CPWF UK) with an additional working campaign name of ‘Neptune’s Pirates UK’.

This exciting new chapter in our history maintains our independence in the UK to deliver our vital campaigns whilst aligning us with the Captain Paul Watson Foundation USA and its growing chapters around the world. This will enable us to work with any like-minded NGOs including independent Sea Shepherd entities in France, Brazil, Hungary and elsewhere which are still allied with our inspirational founder Paul Watson.

Our main campaign focus will be to achieve our founder's original mission of ending all whale, dolphin, and seal hunts. But of course, we will defend any at-risk marine wildlife in UK waters and out into the North Sea, Irish Sea, North Atlantic, the channel and beyond if necessary.

CPWF UK will have crew back in Iceland this summer for our 4th year opposing the cruel commercial fin whaling operations of Kristjan Loftsson’s company ‘Hvalur hf’ - a collaboration between ourselves and CPWF USA and Sea Shepherd France at sea with a fleet of vessels. We will again conduct land-based operations and continue to support ongoing legal work against Hvalur hf.

In the Faroe Islands we will have our 9th consecutive campaign year working to end the barbaric grindadrap hunts of pilot whales and dolphins with Operation Bloody Fjords with new tactics designed to both bring back the world’s attention to the hunts, and actively defend our clients.

Our established Ghostnet Campaign now benefits from now being part of our new larger UK Dive Project bringing new collaborations and new divers onboard. In 2024 we will be seeking funding for a much larger dive boat as ‘Spectre’ is being filled with creels and nets on every single dive. Our RIB ‘Shadow’ continues to work successfully with our partner charity Fathoms Free and their RIB ‘Casper’ on the South coast retrieving creels, nets and ropes from the coastline around Cornwall and Devon.

Our Coastal Debris project will continue to be managed by our crew of dedicated volunteers - all of whom are passionate about restoring the ocean and our coastline for all wildlife. Beach cleans provide opportunities for collaborations with other local activists and members of the public. Beach cleans are without doubt ‘direct action’ helping restore our coastlines and clean the ocean, and they provide a great opportunity to educate the public and media about the hazards to marine wildlife and the environment posed by litter, fishing industry debris and microplastics.

In 2023 we also secretly launched ‘Operation Silent Seal’ – with two covert teams being sent to Namibia and successfully recording the first footage in over a decade of the hidden Namibian Cape Fur seal hunt (the second largest seal hunt in the world) which aside from the local trade in furs, the hunt is supporting a despicable trade in bull seal penises for Chinese traditional medicines.

Just as we were founded by Paul Watson - you can be assured that:

•    Our campaigns will be solely for the benefit of marine animals who are our clients.
•    Our investigations will be followed by action, whether that be physical or legal intervention.
•    We will never be subject to restrictive agreements with governments.
•    Our media and opinions will never be censored.
•    Our crew will go where they are needed even if they are unwelcome.

This year, our own UK fleet of conservation boats is larger and will be more active than ever before!

Our dive boat ‘Spectre’ and our ex-MOD landing craft ‘Selkie’ are soon to be  joined by our new all-weather patrol boat ‘Nemesis’, and ‘Lionheart’ has joined our existing fast boats ‘Shadow’, ‘Ghost’ and ‘Siren’ (with RIB ‘Phantom’ donated to the CPWF flagship ‘John Paul Dejoria’).

2024 looks set to be an eventful year with more action both on land and at sea for our charity and our partners – so please do check out our new website at: https://www.neptunespirates.uk/ to keep up to date with all our fleet and campaign news this year.

Many thanks again as our charity and our crew cannot operate our vessels and engage in campaigns without your support!

Robert Read.  MA. BSc (Hons) 
COO at Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK (formerly Sea Shepherd UK)