Eco-Warrior Offers 4 Easy Tips to Protect the Oceans

A lot of people say they’re fighting to save the oceans. When Pete Bethune says it, he means it.

The environmental activist spent years chasing down Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean as a member of Sea Shepherd. Bethune hit the headlines in 2010 when he commanded a Sea Shepherd boat that was rammed and sunk by a Japanese whaling ship. When he boarded the whaler, he was arrested and jailed in Japan for five months before being released.

These days, the New Zealander leads a group of green commandos who launch missions to stop poachers and other environmental criminals around the world.

Their exploits appear in a television series called The Operatives that airs on Pivot TV, which is owned by Participant Media, TakePart’s parent company.

“I want to see our oceans recover rather than be destroyed,” Bethune says. “Our oceans regulate the globe’s temperature, they provide the majority of oxygen that we breathe, they are a major source of protein for coastal communities, they provide many of the world’s most important ecosystems, they’re home to the world’s smallest organisms as well as the largest, and they are our playground.”

“But they are under threat, and it’s up to us to protect them.”