March: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society consults with a marine biologist and a physicist to find a method for sinking driftnet without ecological damage. A successful method is found, tested, and prepared.
January – July: The Sea Shepherd II is prepared and outfitted for a campaign to the North Pacific to hunt for driftnetters. In June, the ship’s engines are sabotaged and the campaign is delayed by almost two months.
August: The Sea Shepherd II departs from Seattle to search for driftnet fleets in the North Pacific. A Japanese fleet is located some 1400 miles north of Hawaii. The Sea Shepherd II rams two Japanese driftnet vessels and sinks some sixty miles of monofilament driftnet. The cost of damages to the Japanese is in excess of two million dollars. Sea Shepherd video documentation of the action is shown worldwide including Japanese television. The official Japanese response was that “nothing happened.”
