No, not that guy. These guys - a group of Gold Coast whale watching tour companies and recent entry into the market, the giant Sea World tourist park.Until now, Sea World has run a respectable marine research and animal rescue program on top of their behemoth tourist attraction. Their recent entry into the whale watching market must have sent tremors through the other operators who are now banding with them in a whale watching day that's giving aid and comfort to a terrorist organisation - Sea Shepherd.
The rag-tag band likes to call itself 'pirates of compassion' but they're simply pirates, led by a self-aggrandising criminal in 'Captain' Paul Watson. No matter how worthy their espoused cause - and one doubts their sincerity somewhat severely - they act illegally.
Gold Coast companies Australian Whale Watching, Spirit of the Gold Coast, Tall Ships, Whales in Paradise and Sea World Whale Watching need to remember that two wrongs don't make a right.
They also need to appreciate that locals who receive visitors often decide what attractions to show them - and Nora and I won't be showing them Tall Ships or Sea World again as we have before. If they ask for such attractions, we'll inform our visitors of their affiliations and, if they still want to go, they can go by themselves. We won't be boosting their numbers again.
Who said one person can't make a difference?
-- Nick
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