SEA SHEPHERD IS AN INTERNATIONAL, NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO THE PROTECTION OF MARINE WILDLIFE. THEIR MISSION IS TO END THE DESTRUCTION OF HABITATS AND THE SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS IN THE WORLD IN ORDER TO SUSTAINABLY PROTECT AND PRESERVE ECOSYSTEMS AND SPECIES. SEA SHEPHERD APPLIES INNOVATIVE DIRECT ACTION TACTICS TO IDENTIFY, DOCUMENT AND, IF NECESSARY, DETECT AND COUNTERACT ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. BY PROTECTING THE BIODIVERSITY OF OUR FINELY BALANCED MARINES, SEA SHEPHERD IS HELPING TO PRESERVE THEM FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. SEA SHEPHERD WAS FOUNDED IN 1977 BY CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON. SINCE THEN, SEA SHEPHERD HAS BEEN PRESENT IN OVER 20 COUNTRIES. THESE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL GROUPS ARE UNITED BY A COMMON MISSION, AND THEIR FINANCES, COMMUNICATIONS, LOGISTICS AND A TEN-SHIP FLEET ARE COORDINATED BY SEA SHEPHERD GLOBAL. SEA SHEPHERD GLOBAL WAS FOUNDED IN 2013 AND IS BASED IN AMSTERDAM. WITH ITS SHIPS, SEA SHEPHERD TAKES PART IN DIRECT ACTIONS WORLDWIDE IN THE CONTEXT OF MARINE CONSERVATION CAMPAIGNS.
While diving in Greece as a 16-year-old, the Dutch Boyan Slat spotted more plastic bags than fish. This made him develop the world’s first feasible concept to clean the oceans of plastic.
Every year, more than 10 million tons of waste end up in our oceans, up to 80% of which have their origin on land and about three quarters of which are made from plastic. Today, more than 150 million tons of plastic waste are in the oceans worldwide. By 2050, according to UN studies, the weight of plastic waste could surpass that of fish in the world’s oceans.
Plastic waste has a lifespan of up to 450 years and ultimately enters the food chain in the form of microscopically sized particles through ingesting fish. In this way, plastics do not only cause harm to the fragile marine ecosystems but in particular also to humans. The urgency to solve the problem of plastic waste in the oceans should therefore concern everyone of us. The Ocean Clean-up’s goal is to free waters around the world from plastic garbage, oil and chemicals by employing special floating garbage collectors.