MY Farley Mowat

The MY Farley Mowat is a retired Island Class Coast Guard Cutter replacing the Sea Shepherd ship of the same name (see RV Farley Mowat''). ''

History
In January 2015 Sea Shepherd bought two Coast Guard vessels in Key West Florida from the Coast Guard former names USCG Pea Island and USCG Block Island. Sea Shepherd took the two recently decommissioned vessels to Key West and they became the Farley Mowat and the MY John Paul DeJoria''. ''After painting and detailing of the vessels both were deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and to the Sea of Cortez. The First campaign was Operation Milagro 3 where it assisted the RV Martin Sheen, and the Sam Simon to hunt down and arrest Mexican fisherman who are poaching illegally and using driftnets to kill the vaquita porpoise which is an extremely endangered dolphin.

Operation Milagro 3
Fresh out of the paint shop in Key West the Farley Mowat  was given her first orders. As part of her maiden voyage she took part in the joint campaigns Operation Toxic Gulf and Operation Milagro 3. The goal of these two campaigns is to document pollution in the Gulf of Mexico released by The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction caused by Mexican fisherman who are deploying driftnets into the Sea of Cortez. To date the Farley Mowat has made 97 arrest and has captured close to 75 fishing boats using their driftnets. Because of the success of the campaign the Mexican cartels are taking notice too and have issued death threats to the three vessels taking part in the campaign. Admiral Paul Watson states that Sea Shepherd takes death threats seriously but that does not deter them from their campaign or protection of the worlds wildlife. Sea Shepherd has since called the Mexican Police on land and they are currently looking for the Mexican drug cartels who have issued threats to Sea Shepherd the case is ongoing. After a successful campaign the Farley Mowat docked in San Diego and the ship was repaired. Currently the vessel is in Mexico undergoing repairs in drydock to get ready for Milargo 4.

Operation Ghostnet
After the completion of Operation Milagro 3 and time in drydock the Farley Mowat was deployed on one more campaign this time an international campaign between their next campaign.The campaign is called Operation Ghostnet and the goal is to remove any and all nets in the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific. When the poachers deploy their nets they sometimes forget about them. Ocean tides and wildlife damage the marker buoys and the net drifts off course to kill anything it touches. Sea Shepherd's goal is to go between campaigns and remove these nets and destroy them before any wildlife get trapped in them. By the end of Operation Ghostnet Neptune's Navy have removed 2 million nets from the ocean that were lost at sea. As the campaign was wrapping up the Mexican Poachers decided to jump the gun and put more illegal nets in the water to increase the demand for bass bladders. Sea Shepherd and the Mexican Navy arrested 10 boats and seized all of their nets. The Farley Mowat then returned to Mexico and went back into drydock to prepare for Milargo 4.

Operation Milagro 4
In 2018 The Farley Mowat returned to the Sea of Cortez and this time she is not alone she has brought her sisters with her. The John Paul DeJoria' and The Sharpie' have joined her after completing hurricane relief fallowing Hurricane Harvey and Irma which destroyed their home port of Key West. With three Coast Guard Cutters in the Pacific the Mexican Poachers can run but they can't hide because Sea Shepherd will get them in the end.

Operation Milagro 5
In 2019 Sea Shepherd launched Operation Milagro 5 the goal this year is constant patrols and the use of the crane ship MV White Holly to recover the nets and transport them to shore.

On January 31, 2019 the Farley Mowat was violently attacked and burned by poachers. The poachers launched rocks at the Farley Mowat and broke all the windows and launched molotovs onto the deck. The poachers even used Sea Shepherd's own tactics against them and fowled the props. Five poachers boarded the ship but were detained. Sea Shepherd repelled the attack and returned to port for repairs. Admiral Watson stated “Sea Shepherd will not be deterred by violence. Our mission is to prevent the extinction of the vaquita porpoise and we will continue to seize the nets of poachers in the Vaquita Refuge. Sea Shepherd salutes the quick responsiveness of the Mexican Navy in defusing a dangerous situation.” Sea Shepherd has called on the Mexican Navy and patrols have increased. The investigation is ongoing and they are looking for suspects. The poachers posted a video on Facebook which is being looked at by Mark Zuckerberg and action will be taken to ban these poachers and report them to the authorities.

In the wake of the attack Sea Shepherd has combined Operation Treasured Islands with Operation Milagro and has sent the Sharpie as backup. Sea Shepherd also employed a tactic used by ICR against them they covered all of their ships with nets and installed water cannons and grills over the windows to prevent poachers from throwing rocks at them they also placed uniformed Mexican and American Navy and Coast Guard officers on deck and they are armed with Tear Gas, M-16s, and AK 47s if any poacher approaches the ships they will be attacked.

On April 27,2019 White Holly arrived on station in the Sea of Cortez. Sea Shepherd greeted her with a firefighter salute using the water cannons on the Sharpie and the Farley Mowat.

With the campaign wrapping up the Farley Mowat will go in for maintenance before the next campaign with the White Holly and the Sharpie transferring to Operation Treasured Islands and Ghostnet.

Operation Milagro 6
In 2020 Sea Shepherd launched Operation Milagro 6. Despite COVID 19 it was a successful year. In March Farley Mowat was attacked again and gunshots were fired at the ship and the Sharpie. Sea Shepherd defused the situation and pulled the net and destroyed it. To date Sea Shepherd had destroyed 3,000 nets and saved 6,000 wildlife despite COVID 19 they managed to stop the poachers and prevent them from carrying out their hunts.

Operation Milagro 7
On new years day Sea Shepherd began its seventh campaign in the gulf to save the vaquita. After leaving the dock the Farley Mowat was violently attacked by the poachers who boarded the vessel and issued threats to the crew in Spanish. During the incident one of the boats used in the boarding was crushed by the Farley Mowat and two of the poachers were injured with one in critical condition and was later declared dead from his wounds at the hospital. The Mexican Navy arrived minutes later with the Sharpie and the two borders were detained and transferred to the fast boats and taken to jail. Also during the attack the poachers launched weights and set fire to the bow destroying the nets that Sea Shepherd pulled up and the land crew was also attacked by the poachers and their Cartel allies who set fire to their truck. The investigation is ongoing and Admiral Watson stated “Sea Shepherd will not be deterred by violence. Our mission is to prevent the extinction of the vaquita porpoise and we will continue to seize the nets of poachers in the Vaquita Refuge. Sea Shepherd salutes the quick responsiveness of the Mexican Navy in defusing a dangerous situation.”