Sea Shepherd founder arrested in Germany

Paul Watson, a 61-year-old Canadian national, is in a German jail after being detained over the weekend on charges stemming from a high seas confrontation over shark finning in 2002.

Watson, who claims to be a co-founder of Greenpeace, also faced an outstanding warrant for attempted murder during the same incident.

The arrest is related to an alleged violation of ships traffic in Costa Rica during the filming of Sharkwater in 2002, where Sea Shepherd encountered an illegal shark finning operation by a Costa Rican ship, Varadero in Guatemalan waters.

Sea Shepherd claim that on Guatemalan authority they instructed the crew of Varadero to cease activities and head back to port to be prosecuted, however while escorting them back a Guatemalan gunboat intercepted the Sea Shepherd crew.

The Sea Shepherd set sail for Costa Rica to avoid the gunboat where they then found more evidence of illegal shark finning activity.

Watson, who has become internationally renowned for his daring and aggressive approach to conservation, was being assisted while in prison by members of the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Jose Bove, Sea Shepherd added.

Sea Shepherd is best known for its annual pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica, using increasingly militant ways to halt the hunt, including boarding the Japanese vessels.

This year, after setting off from Australia, the group hurled stink bombs at the boats on the high seas and used ropes to try to tangle their propellers in a series of exchanges which saw the whalers retaliate with water cannon.

The whaling fleet killed less than a third of the animals it planned to because of the sabotage attempts.