July 16, 1979: Sea Shepherd Activists Ram and Disable Notorious Whaling Vessel

On July 16, 1979, off the coast of the Leixoes, Portugal, a group of animal rights and environmental activists aboard the Sea Shepherd intentially rammed and disabled the pirate whaler Sierra, ending the ship’s illegal whaling operations and bringing worldwide attention to the slaughter of whales. Though the Sea Shepherd was scuttled to prevent its being seized, Captain Paul Watson — who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1977 “to protect defenseless marine wildlife and end the destruction of habitat in the world’s oceans” — considered the action a success.

The original Sea Shepherd in Leixoes, Portugal harbor, the day after it rammed and disabled the pirate whaler Sierra. Source: Paul Watson

According to the Sea Shepherd timeline,

Sea Shepherd hunts down one of the world’s most notorious pirate whalers, the Sierra in Leixoes, Portugal. After ramming and disabling it, Captain Watson surrenders to the Portuguese Navy. The story makes headlines worldwide and exposes the operations of the pirate whalers and their Japanese and Norwegian connections. The Port Captain rules that there will be no charges against the Sea Shepherd crew, but the ship is seized and held until Captain Watson and Chief Engineer Peter Woof scuttle the ship on New Year’s Eve in Leixoes harbor to prevent it from being handed over to the whalers’ Sierra Trading Company.

In a Bite Back interview, Watson stated that on February 6, 1980, “my crew blew the bottom out of [the Sierra] and permanently ended her career. We traded a ship for a ship, but it was a great trade because we also traded our ship for the lives of hundreds of whales.”

Since the attack on the Sierra in 1979, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has led numerous missions and campaigns to defend, conserve, and protect the world’s oceans, using direct intervention and media to bypass bureaucratic inaction.

Additional Resources

Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales & Seals by Paul Watson