Australian Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has paid tribute to Sea Shepherd’s flagship the MY Steve Irwin, following its retirement, announced today after a decade of defending the oceans.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “I am sure I speak for the vast majority of Australians when I say thank you to Sea Shepherd and the Steve Irwin for defending our oceans and the animals that live in it.

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, provides the following comments on the decision by Sea Shepherd to pull out from their Southern Ocean mission to protect whales from slaughter.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Make no mistake, thousands of whales are alive today because of the efforts of Sea Shepherd putting themselves in front of harpoons in the Southern Ocean.

“Only recently it has been reported that whale numbers have rebounded and Sea Shepherd can take some of the credit for this.