418 Dive Log Australasia JUNE 2026.pdf

An otherwise reputable nation of intelligent and compassionate people, with exceptional geography and a rich Nordic culture, has been perversely tainted by a sadistic, ecologically destructive modern-day self proclaimed Captain Ahab who has cast a dark shadow over the entire nation. His name is Kristján Loftsson, the wealthiest man in Iceland. He has overseen the massacre of tens of thousands of whales, especially endangered fin whales, since he took over his father’s whaling company in 1974. Loftsson is a bitter, very rich old man (83) who has a seemingly pathological hatred for creatures far more intelligent and noble than himself. He claims simply to be a businessman, yet there has been no profit for his whaling business for decades. He kills whales because he likes to kill whales. It is a subsidized hobby and his way of flipping off the anti-whaling movement that has plagued him for decades. If he is a simple businessman, as he claims, he is no different from Al Capone, who described himself as a businessman as a guise for his criminal activities. Because like Capone, Kristján Loftsson is also a criminal. Since 1986, he has flagrantly and arrogantly slaughtered whales in violation of the Global Moratorium on Commercial Whaling. His targets are endangered Fin whales. Loftsson also hates me, a fact that pleases me very much because, since 1986, I have taken pleasure in being his nemesis. The year 1974, when he took control of the Hvalur hf. Company, was the very same year that Robert Hunter, Paul Spong, and I organized the first high seas anti-whaling campaigns for Greenpeace. Loftsson’s dark passion for murdering whales coincided with my passion for protecting them. It was inevitable that we would clash, and in 1985, we did. That summer, I arrived with my ship Sea Shepherd II in Reykjavik, where I delivered a warning. I told Loftsson that the Global Moratorium on Commercial Whaling would take effect the following year, in 1986. If he violated the moratorium, we would return and sink his ships. This old man has a harpoon gun, He murders Fin whales one by one, With a knick-knack paddywhack, Send Loftsson a drone, Send the old whaler rolling home. Iceland has an old man problem. by Captain Paul Watson SUMMER SHOWDOWN COLD NORDIC SEA

Loftsson ignored the moratorium and killed 120 fin whales in 1986. A few months later, I sent a team to Iceland led by Rod Coronado with a mission that successfully sabotaged the Icelandic whaling fleet. The ships Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7 were sunk dockside in Reykjavik harbor, and the whale processing plant at Hvalfjordur was significantly damaged. With just two ships left, Loftsson’s plan to kill 500 whales between 1987 and 1989 was cut in half. I openly admitted responsibility for sinking the two whaling ships in 1986, yet Iceland did not file charges. In January 1988, I flew to Iceland to demand that charges be laid against us. We wanted a trial and the opportunity to expose Loftsson’s illegal whaling operations. I was amusingly interrogated and happily confessed that I was responsible for sinking the two ships. I was expelled from Iceland without charges. The Icelandic Foreign Minister, Halldór Ásgrímsson, said, “Who does he think he is, coming to Iceland and demanding to be arrested? Get him out of here.” Neither my crew nor I were charged. There was no trial; thus, we did not commit a criminal act. The fact that I was not charged was an admission by Iceland that they knew they were in violation of international conservation law. Whaling was on again and off again year after year as Loftsson stubbornly pushed to kill more whales in the face of international opposition. In 2018, Rob Read initiated Operation Mjolnir to document every whale killed and landed at Loftsson’s whaling station, where he also documented the illegal killing of two blue fin hybrid whales. In 2019, I sent my ship, the Brigitte Bardot , to Iceland to oppose the slaughter, and upon arrival, whaling was shut down. In 2022, Icelandic whaling resumed again, with 148 whales killed. We had established Operation Northern Exposure and chartered a vessel to intervene, but we could not effectively intervene with a ship we did not own. Finally, in 2023, having secured the ship John Paul DeJoria , I returned to Icelandic waters with a plan to permanently shut down Icelandic whaling. The very day that we arrived off Reykjavik, in Iceland, the Icelandic

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DIVE LOG Australasia #418 - June’ 26

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