420 Dive Log Australasia OCTOBER 2026

this is something I refuse to do. It became quite obvious that the Icelandic Coast Guard was acting as a personal security force for Loftsson and his whalers. Despite that, all in all, it was an exciting summer filled with drama, corruption, bureaucratic incompetence, and downright ridiculous actions by the whalers. There was a video of one whaler jerking off a giant Fin whale penis larger than his own body, while the other whalers drunkenly sang the Icelandic national anthem. Ahh, the nation must have been proud. No one was injured; none of my crew were charged with a crime, and the ship was released from criminal liability, although detained by Loftsson’s civil action, and so the fight continues. But now for the good news. Loftsson’s quota for the season was 150 endangered Fin whales. The season is now over because of the onset of winter weather. Kristján Loftsson, this sadistic whale killer, has murdered 93 whales, far fewer than the numbers killed up to this time in previous seasons. He failed to kill 57 whales. If our actions have prevented the killing of these 57 endangered Fin whales, as Loftsson himself claims in his lawsuit against us, this means the campaign was as successful as it could be considering the extreme pressure against us by the corrupt Icelandic authorities. Now that Iceland has voted against joining the European Union, Loftsson’s planned slaughter of whales may continue. Iceland is proposing to introduce a bill to ban whaling in February 2027. The Icelandic government and the majority of the Icelandic public are opposed to whaling, but Loftsson remains influential and states that his permit to kill whales issued by the previous government cannot be legally rescinded. Our opposition to this illegal killing will also continue.

masks, body armor, tactical weapons, and urban camo fatigue uniforms. This helped dramatically with the television production we are working on. The Coast Guard chief described the boarding as a James Bond type operation. A trifle grandiose, but it does serve our drama requirements for a new television production. The Bandero was taken over and brought into Reykjavík. The crew were denied legal representation; their phones, cameras, and laptops were seized without a warrant and without any charges; all 21 crew were ordered deported without charges and told they would be banned from all European countries for three years despite Iceland not being a member of the European Union. Initially, the Coast Guard charged that all the ship’s papers were not in compliance until an independent Icelandic surveyor inspected the ship and found that all the documents were 100% in compliance and the ship was seaworthy. The Coast Guard then cited the Bandero for not having a navigational chart for Reykjavík, to which our lawyer replied that it was never our intention to bring the ship into the city. The decision to bring the ship into the harbor was made by the Coast Guard and not my crew. I made it quite clear to the Icelandic Port Authority that we would not be paying port fees, port fines, or other costs because the seizure of the ship was illegal and we were never given a letter or document to say it was officially detained. What the Coast Guard was doing was deliberately holding our ship until Kristján Loftsson could have time to file a civil suit against us for the losses he claims we caused him by the whales he claimed he could not kill because of us. His attempt to file charges in Reykjavík was refused, so he had the Coast Guard tow the ship to Akranes, a pro-whaling fishing town where the local magistrate quickly accepted the filing. The Bandero was then officially released from detention by the Coast Guard but quickly detained with a lien of 80,000 euros demanded by Loftsson for the damages he claims to have suffered. The court then ordered a hearing for December, forcing the Bandero to be detained in port unless a bond for the full amount demanded is posted, and

paulwatsonfoundation.org.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #420 October ’ 26

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