Captain Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has incensed South Africans in calling for a ban on South African wine sales until Mike Meyer, of Marine and Coastal Management, labelled by Watson as the “Butcher of Kommetjie Beach”, be sacked.

Watson is so passionate about saving whales that he takes the Japanese head on every year in the Antarctic waters off Australia. 

He was reacting to the slaughter of 44 pilot whales on 30 May at Long Beach in Kommetjie,  under the directive of Meyer.   Marine and Coastal Management, the Dolphin Action Protection Group, the NSRI and SPCA, along with hundreds of volunteers, tried to help the whales back into the stormy ocean, but only 14 made it back to sea, the others rebeaching.   These are the whales that Meyer had shot with a rifle, a traumatic event for the volunteers and members of the public present.

Criticism of the events of the day are that the public did not assist the whale rescue operation by wanting to have a look at what was going on, and by not accepting instructions; no clear directives were given to the volunteers and public, as no one seemed to be in charge of the rescue operation; and that the volunteers were not well trained enough.   Better volunteer training and a clear disaster plan should be prepared in the event of future whale beachings, say the parties involved in the whale rescue.

Watson’s call for the ban has been described as a “vicious and personal attack” on Meyer, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs, which is supporting Meyer’s decision.   The Cape Argus, reporting on the Sea Shepherd wine ban threat, wrote as follows: “Most of his statement about Meyer is too defamatory to print”.

Watson slates both Meyer and Marine Coastal Management, and its handling of the whale beaching on Long Beach.  “Meyer simply called himself a scientist and proclaimed the animals doomed, and thus gave the order for execution. This man does not possess a single scientific degree.   He is a bureaucrat, not a scientist, not a vet, and not even a former student of marine biology or any discipline involving marine species. In short he is an unqualified sadistic thug and an embarrassment to the government and the people of South Africa.” said Watson.

Watson has visited South Africa, and has been a speaker at a Whale Festival in Hermanus.    His full statement can be read on http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-090602-1.html