Steve Irwin Released - A Letter From Paul Watson

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The Steve Irwin is Free, Thanks to Thousands of Donations!

Dear Teddy,

Sea Shepherd supporters rock!

Due to the generosity of our supporters around the world, we have raised over USD$735,000 to save our flagship Steve Irwin—less than two weeks after the launch of our SOS! - Save Our Ship fundraising campaign! Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible for us to fund a bond to release the vessel from detainment! Together, we will continue to make a difference.

As many of you are aware, on July 15, our flagship vessel the Steve Irwin was detained in the Scottish Shetland Islands pending our ability to fund a bond we estimated to be in the amount of USD$1,411,692.87. The detainment was ordered by British courts due to a civil lawsuit brought against us by Maltese fishing company Fish and Fish Ltd.

The British court set the bond today at £520,000 (approximately USD$846,290). Thankfully, we were able to post the bond earlier today, and the Steve Irwin will soon depart to the Faeroes for Operation Ferocious Isles. The Steve Irwin will join the vessel Brigitte Bardot and her crew, who are already onsite defending pilot whales.

I sincerely thank everyone who donated to help Save Our Ship. Your help enabled us to Free the Steve. However, despite everyone’s best efforts we didn't quite raise the entire amount and had to cut into our already scarce budget to meet the bond amount and Free the Steve. We face the ongoing costs of Operation Ferocious Isles, the transit of our vessels from the northern hemisphere to the southern for Operation Divine Wind, and then the cost of that Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign as well. We are all on the same crew, despite our different roles and varying locations. We all feel that inner drive to protect innocent lives and ecosystems, and I know many of you have given what you can— but please keep your donations coming in. Without your help, we cannot continue this important work.

We are in a war to save our oceans from ourselves, and if we lose, we all lose because if the oceans die, we all die – it’s as simple as that. Thank-you!


For Our Oceans and for the Steve Irwin,
Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President

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