YOUR GRANT AT WORK
Sea Shepherd matched your support with a full-scale operational presence.
YOUR SUPPORT POWERED THESE RESULTS
$60,000 grant received – October 2024
Deployed 35 acoustic F-Pods across the Vaquita Refuge to monitor marine life in real time
Delivered and maintained a second Seahawk Interceptor to expand high-speed response
Outfitted our Sea Lion Rescue Task Force with advanced sedation and disentanglement gear
Upgraded the Seahorse, tripling her net-pulling power across the Upper Gulf
VAQUITA STATUS: 2024 SURVEY RESULTS
Fewer Than 10 Remain—But They Are Still Here
- 6–8 vaquitas documented in May 2024 (ZTA)
- Individual not seen since 2019: CONFIRMED
- Visual survey guided by CONAN + Sea Shepherd coverage
- Zero Tolerance Area = only 12% of historic habitat – more areas need surveyed
Survival continues—against all predictions.
ACOUSTIC EXPANSION
Full Refuge Listening Effort Launched
- 35 F-Pods + 35 pop-up markers deployed Aug–Sept 2024
- 60 monitoring sites surveyed
- 19 vaquita detections confirmed
- First evidence of vaquita in former range in years
2025 will scale up this model across entire refuge.
ILLEGAL FISHING RESPONSE
Stopping the Kill Nets Before They Hit the Water
- 90% reduction in gillnetting inside ZTA
- Over 1,200 illegal nets removed to date
- October 2024: 80 illegal boats intercepted in one day
- Embedded with Navy for coordinated enforcement
Criminal deterrence through constant presence and advanced tech.
UPGRADED TOOLS FOR MARINE PROTECTION
Interception Hardware That Delivers Results
- Seahorse equipped with crane, radar, sonar, fast boats, thermal drones
- Second Seahawk Interceptor delivered to Navy, maintained by Sea Shepherd
- March 2025: Seahorse sister ship, Bob Barker joins to double surveillance and retrieval
From detection to interception—faster, stronger, year-round.
SEA LION DISENTANGLEMENT OPERATIONS
Expanding Rescue into a Second Threatened Species
- Sea lions freed from gillnets in Nov 2024 and Mar 2025
- Location: Consag Rock, northern Gulf
- Three partner orgs: RABEN, Sea Lions Rescue, Marine Mammal Rescue
- Protocols and sedation equipment now deployed on Seahorse
Same nets. Same region. New victims. And now, new defenses.
GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP SECURED
Formal Collaboration with the Mexican Navy
- Agreements renewed with new administration (Nov–Dec 2024)
- Valid through 2030—six-year commitment
- Navy operates two Seahawk Interceptors provided and maintained by Sea Shepherd
- Shared patrols, shared intel, shared impact
Sea Shepherd isn’t just a partner—we’re Mexico’s marine defense platform.
SCORPION REEF PROTECTION
New Patrols at Mexico’s Largest Reef System
- Scorpion Reef now permanently patrolled
- Protects coral, fish nursery grounds, and biodiversity
- Site previously vulnerable due to remote location
Sea Shepherd’s model scales to other sensitive zones.
ANTARCTICA DEFENSE
Exposing the Krill Industry at the Bottom of the World
- 14 krill supertrawlers now operating 24/7 in Antarctic Peninsula
- 3 whales killed in 2023 by trawler gear
- Sea Shepherd footage helped block quota increase in 2024
- Allankay tracking fleet with scientific experts aboard
Exposing the conflict. Forcing global decisions.
FAROE ISLANDS: EXPOSING THE GRIND
652 Whales and Dolphins Killed in 2024—We Documented All 6 Hunts
- 5-month ground campaign completed
- Motion introduced in EU Parliament to suspend Faroese subsidies
- 10.6M social media views from campaign content
- ABA + EU Ocean Week appearances elevated visibility
Sea Shepherd has covered this issue for over four decades, and is employing new, productive methods to apply pressure politically and in Faroese communities.
GLOBAL OPERATIONS MAP
Four Continents. One Strategy.
Mexico
- Vaquita Defense (including Totoaba anti-poaching efforts)
- Sea Lion Rescue
- Scorpion Reef Patrol
- Scientific Baseline Missions in Guadalupe & Revillagigedo Island
West Africa
- Anti-poaching patrols in Liberia, Gabon, São Tomé, Gambia & Sierra Leone
- Joint enforcement with local governments
Antarctica
- Krill Defense
- Whale Conflict Zone Monitoring
Faroe Islands
- Grindadráp Documentation
- EU political advocacy
Grounded locally. Operational globally.
STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE
What Makes Sea Shepherd Different from other US-Based Ocean NGOs
We don’t just document. We disrupt and defend.
2025 PRIORITIES
Expanding the Model You Helped Build
- Expand acoustic monitoring to full refuge (100+ sites)
- Increase frequency in sea lion rescue operations
- Maintain and upgrade Interceptor fleet
- Provide new data at October 2025 CCAMLR meeting in Antarctica
- Reintroduce EU motion to stop Grind funding
Marisla helped us build more than a campaign. Together, we built a model. Let’s scale it together.
CLOSING
Thank You for Powering Marine Defense
Sea Shepherd exists to do the work most won’t touch.
With your continued support, we will hold this line.
The ocean doesn’t wait. Neither do we.
