You Don’t Need a Peg Leg or an Eye Patch to be a Pirate

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society committed acts of piracy when it attacked Japanese vessels engaged in legal whaling under the auspices of a research permit issued by Japan.  Sea Shepherd vessels rammed the vessels of the Institute of Cetacean Research, hurled glass containers of acid, dragged metal reinforced ropes through the water to damage rudders and propellers, launched smoke bombs and flares with hooks and pointed high powered lasers at the ships, with the intent to damage and sink the vessels.  The court found that these acts of piracy violated several international agreements regarding conduct on the high seas and issued a permanent injunction against Sea Shepherd.  See Institute for Cetacean Research v. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, United States Court of Appeals No. 12-35266 (9^thCir. 2013).