Paul Watson Timeline:

• 1971 – Crew member of the Greenpeace Two expedition to protest nuclear testing in the Aleutians.

• 1972 – Co-founder of the Greenpeace Foundation.

• 1973 – Volunteer medic for the American Indian Movement during the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

• 1975 – 1st officer on the first Greenpeace voyage to defend whales against the Soviet whaling fleet.

• 1976 – Campaign organizer and leader of Greenpeace's first campaign against the hunt for harp seal pups in Canada.

• 1977 – Leader of the 2nd Greenpeace campaign to protect harp seal pups. Accompany Brigitte Bardot on a seal hunt. Tore a club off a seal hunter and threw him into the water, beaten by seal hunters.

• 1977 – Greenpeace board votes to oust him for stealing and destroying a sealers' club.

• 1978 – Established the 'Earthforce Environmental Society' and led a campaign in East Africa to investigate elephant poaching.

• 1978 – Purchases trawler Westella and renames it Sea Shepherd .

• 1979 – First maritime campaign with Sea Shepherd to disrupt the seal pup hunt in Canada in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Arrested under the Sea Protection Act for preventing the slaughter of 1,000 seals. Arrested under the Seal Protection Act for disrupting seal killing.

• 1979 – The pursuit and ramming of the pirate whaler Sierra in Leixoes, Portugal with the Sea Shepherd . No legal action.

• 1979 – Scuttling of the Sea Shepherd in the port of Leixoes to prevent it from being confiscated after the ramming. No legal action.

• 1980 – The Earthforce Environmental Society was officially renamed after Paul's first ship, and became the 'Sea Shepherd Conservation Society' in Vancouver, Canada

• 1980 – Sinking of the pirate whaler Sierra in Lisbon, Portugal. No legal action.

• 1980 – Sinking of the Spanish whaling ships Isba I and Isba II in Vigo, Spain. No legal action.

• 1980 – Publication of “Shepherds of the Sea”.

• 1980 – The pirate whaling ship Cape Fisher is decommissioned in the Canary Islands, Spain.

• 1980 – Publication of Sea Shepherd, My Fight for Whales and Seals

• 1980 - Foundation of 'Sea Shepherd Conservation Limited' in Glasgow, Scotland

• 1981 – Purchase of the Sea Shepherd II and intrusion into Soviet Siberia to obtain evidence of illegal Russian whaling and a successful escape after being chased by a Soviet Navy frigate and two helicopter gunships. No legal action.

• 1981 - Foundation of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in USA

• 1982 – Intervenes and stops the slaughter of dolphins on Iki Island, Japan.

• 1983 – Blockade of the port of St. John's, Newfoundland with the Sea Shepherd II to prevent the sealing fleet from leaving and pursuit of the Magdalen Island sealing boats out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence resulting in a confrontation with the Canadian government and charges under the Seal Protection Act for disrupting the seal slaughter. The confiscation of the Sea Shepherd II was ordered and Captain Watson was sentenced to 21 months in prison but released on appeal after 9 days. The sentence was subsequently overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

• 1983 – Organization of the first intervention against the culling of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands

• 1984 – Friends of the Wolf organized and led a campaign to disrupt aerial shooting of wolves in British Columbia. Appealed the 1983 conviction.

• 1984 – Paul commissions the artist and former wrestler Steve Capello to create the classic whale and dolphin logo for Sea Shepherd.

• 1985 – Recovery of the Sea Shepherd II after successfully suing the Canadian government and obtaining a cash settlement for damage caused to the ship while in custody.

• 1985 – Publication of Cry Wolf!

• 1985 – Sailed to Reykjavik, Iceland with the Sea Shepherd II to warn the Icelanders that if they violated the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling, it would return and sink their whaling ships.

• 1985 – Arrival in the Faroe Islands with the Sea Shepherd II to prevent the Grindadrap

• 1986 – Return to the Faroe Islands with Sea Shepherd II to prevent Grindadrap with a BBC film crew who produced the documentary 'Black Harvest'

• 1987 – Purchases the ship Divine Wind and leads a campaign in the Bering Sea to oppose high seas driftnets.

• 1987 - Creates the concept of 'Neptunes Navy' with it's own logo used on patches and in publications

• 1989 – With the Sea Shepherd II, hunts poachers from the waters around Cocos Island off the coast of Costa Rica with paintballs and black powder cannons.

• 1989 – Release of dolphins from a Mexican purse seine net off the coast of Mexico.

• 1990 – Creation of the original Sea Shepherd Jolly Roger logo with a skull above a Trident and Shepherd's Crook

• 1991 – Confrontation with a Taiwanese driftnet fisherman in the Caribbean.

• 1992 – Scuttling of the Norwegian whaler Nybraena in the Lofoten Islands in Norway

• 1992 – Publication of 'Earthforce' – a strategy guide for environmentalists. Publication of 'Ocean Warrior'

• 1992 – Confrontation with Japanese driftnet fishermen with the Sea Shepherd II in the North Pacific; seizes and destroys a 100 mile long drift net. Ramming two fishing vessels with drift nets to destroy power supplies.

• 1992 – Intercepts the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria off Puerto Rico, seizes the Santa Maria , standoff with Puerto Rican police until the Spanish government agrees to apologize for 500 years of injustice to towards the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

• 1993 – Purchases the ship Cleveland Amory and drives Cuban and Spanish trawlers from the nose and tail of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Charged with three counts of mischief.

• 1993 – Takes the ship Edward Abbey to Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island to oppose strip logging.

• 1994 – Scuttling of the Norwegian whaler Senet in Norway

• 1994 – Publication of 'Seal Wars!'

• 1994 – Developed a non-lethal, humane form of seal hunting by discovering that harp seal pups could be brushed for their transparent, hollow-fiber moulting hairs. It was an alternative commercial product and he hired sealers to do it.

• 1994 – Takes the ship 'Whales Forever' to northern Norway to prevent whaling. Confrontation with the Norwegian navy ship Andennes, resulting in a collision which damaged both ships. Despite depth and gunfire, the Whales Forever eluded her pursuers for a distance of 500 miles, returning safely to the Shetland Islands.

• 1995 – The launch of the seal brushing campaign is sabotaged by a riot of seal hunters who severely beat Paul Watson and force him to leave the Magdalen Islands

• 1995 – The highly publicized and controversial trial of Captain Watson for chasing foreign trawlers off the Grand Banks ended in a not guilty verdict.

• 1995 – Green Party candidate for mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia.

• 1996 – Named honorary citizen of the French town of Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat.

• 1997 – Arrested in the Netherlands on an extradition request from Norway for the sinking of the Norwegian whaler Nybraena . Detained for 120 days, then released after Dutch court ruled against extradition.

• 1997 – Purchase of the Sea Shepherd III and participation in the CBI meeting in Monaco at the invitation of Prince Rainer.

• 1998 – Successfully leads the campaign to oppose the killing of gray whales by Makah tribe whalers with the Sea Shepherd III and the Sirenian.

• 1999 – Delivery of the Sirenian patrol boat to the Galapagos National Park as a gift. Initiates a partnership with the Galapagos National Park to protect the Galapagos Marine Reserve. A program that is still current.

• 2000 – Takes the ship Ocean Warrior to the Faroe Islands to prevent Grindadrap

• 2000 – Named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 best environmentalists of the 20th century

• 2000 – Takes Sea Shepherd III to the Faroe Islands to oppose Grindadrap.

• 2001 – Arrest and detention of a shark-killing Ecuadorian ocean liner, the San Jose, off Cocos Island, and handed over to Costa Rican rangers. Established a partnership with the Galapagos National Park to protect the Galapagos Marine Reserve. A program that is still current.

• 2002 – First campaign to hunt the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean

• 2002 – Illegal shark finning operation stopped in Guatemalan waters, arrested twice in Costa Rica and released.

• 2002 – Worked with Rob Stewart to produce the documentary film Sharkwater.

• 2003 – Launch of the first campaign to denounce the dolphin massacre in Taiji, Japan. Two crew members freed 16 pilot whales from the nets and were arrested and released.

• 2003 – Elected to the Sierra Club National Board of Directors.

• 2005 – First campaign to oppose the Japanese whaling fleet. Using the ship Farley Mowat , Captain Watson engages in two confrontations with the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru. Production of the documentary film At the Edge of the World.

• 2005 - 'Sea Shepherd UK' is founded in London.

• 2006 – Purchase of the ship Robert Hunter to join the Farley Mowat in interventions against Japanese whaling operations in the Ross Sea. Operation Minke .

• 2006 – Resigned from the national board of directors of the Sierra Club to oppose their support of hunting

• 2006 - Sea Shepherd France is founded in Paris.

• 2007 – Amazon Peace Prize by the Vice President of Ecuador.

• 2007 – Uses the ship Steve Irwin to track down and disrupt the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. Initiates production on the Animal Planet Whale War series. Operation Migaloo.

• 2008 – Operation Tar Baby Farley – Sending the Sea Shepherd II to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to prevent seal hunting in Canada. The ship was seized. Captain Watson refused to pay the fine and the ship was confiscated. Captain Watson said the Canadian government took care of the Farley Mowat's retirement.

• 2008   – 2009 – Release of the documentary film Pirate for the Sea by Ron Colby

• 2008 – 2009 – Operation Musashi. Confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.

• 2009 – 2010 – Operation Waltzing Matilda. Confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.

• 2010 – 2011 – Operation Divine Wind. Confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.

• 2010 – Receives the Philippe Cousteau Prize for the Defense of Marine Life from the Amigos del Museo de Anclas association Philippe Cousteau: Defense of Marine Life

• 2011   – 2012 – Operation No Compromise. Confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.

• 2011  – Release of the documentary film Eco-Pirate – The Story of Paul Watson by Trish Dolman

• 2011 – 2012  – Operation Blue Rage – release of 800 illegally caught bluefin tuna

• 2011 – 2012   – Operation Viking Shores – Two ships and a helicopter in the Faroe Islands

• 2012 – 2013 Operation Zero Tolerance . Confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary.

• 2012 – Arrested and detained in Germany on extradition requests from Costa Rica and Japan. Flee from Germany without papers, crossed the Atlantic, North America, the Pacific to American Samoa and then into the Southern Ocean as part of Operation Zero Tolerance .

• 2012 – Receives the Jules Verne Prize for Conservation

• 2012 – Costa Rica and Japan placed Paul Watson on Interpol's red notice list. Costa Rica for “endangering wrecks” and Japan for “conspiracy to trespass on a whaler”

• 2013 – 8-month stay in exile in the South Pacific.

• 2012 – Offers a $35,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the men who murdered Jairo Mora Sandoval.

• 2012 – 2013 – Operation Zero Tolerance.

• 2014 – Organization of the Sea Shepherd Summit in Vermont, USA.

• 2014 – United States Federal Court Judge Alex Kozinki labels Captain Watson a pirate, although he was never charged with piracy.

• 2015 – Operation Milagro launched to protect the endangered Vaquita in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

• 2015 – Starred in the documentary film How to Change the World about the origins of Greenpeace.

• 2015 – Launch of Operation Virus Hunter to oppose salmon farming in British Columbia.

• 2017 – Operation Good Pirates of the Caribbean launched to bring relief supplies to hurricane victims in Dominica, the Bahamas and Antigua.

• 2017 – With the change of government in Costa Rica, Paul Watson is removed from the Interpol Red Notice list by Costa Rica but remains on the Japanese list.

• 2017 – Release of the documentary film WATSON .

• 2019 – Removed from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Board of Directors

• 2019 – Receives a commendation from Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.

• 2020 – Creation of the Church of Biocentrism and Interdependence.

• 2022 – Resigns from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

• 2022 – Ousted from Sea Shepherd Global Board of Directors without meeting, discussion or vote.

• 2022 - Launches the 'Captain Paul Watson Foundation' in the USA and internationally

• 2022 – Purchase of the Scottish fisheries protection vessel 'Vigilant' which is renamed the 'John Paul DeJoria II'

• 2022 – Resigns from the Sea Shepherd Australia Board of Directors in protest against the partnership between Sea Shepherd Australia and Austral Fishing Corporation.

• 2023 - Sea Shepherd UK rebrands as 'Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK' in order to stay true to Paul Watson's founding principles of uncompromising, fully independent, direct action marine conservation.

• 2023 – Takes the new flagship John Paul DeJoria II to Iceland to oppose the cruel harpooning of endangered fin whales

• 2023 – Takes the John Paul DeJoria II to the Faroe Islands to disrupt the culling of pilot whales and dolphins.

• 2023 – Publication of Hit Man for the Kindness Club

• 2023 – Sending the John Paul DeJoria to challenge destructive super trawlers in European and UK waters.