Fate of The Sea Shepherd

Speaking of things nautical, one of the most infamous vessels to ever ply these waters was Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd, which harassed the Makah whale hunters off Cape Flattery in 1999, and created headline-making havoc with whaling and fishing fleets worldwide. Captain Watson principally helms a microphone on the lecture circuit today, but his notorious ship remains here in Victoria – in bits and pieces.

A few summers ago, a neighbour of mine saw the rusty, battered Sea Shepherd being scrapped at the historic Esquimalt Graving Dock, and pounced on the opportunity to buy several chunks of the hull with Watson's “kills” painted on them. My neighbour plans to put them in the lobby of The Pier development he's putting together in Sidney. The Town of Sidney itself picked up some Sea Shepherd memorabilia, too: an administrator told me they have the propeller and wheelhouse. “We don’t know what we’re going to do with them yet,” he said. “We were offered them at a good price, and the ship has a lot of historic value. Certainly it was better than throwing them away.” I guess Sidney doesn't get enough tourists from Newfoundland to worry about pissing them off.