Sea Hippies Update

We've discussed them here several times before. Regardless of one's opinion on their cause or tactics, the Sea Shepards represent the 21st Century archetypical non-state maritime actor and their persistence and adaptability is admirable. In their own words, the Sea Shepards are rolling out “new campaigns, new ideas, new strategies, new tactics, and new colors. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is constantly evolving and changing to address the changing issues and problems threatening our oceans.”

Steve Irwin sports a new dazzle style naval camouflage scheme which apparently helped them evade pirates off HOA. These colors would also seem to provide some value as they stalk sea poachers in future campaigns, including their upcoming adventure to stop tuna poachers off Libya (note: you might want to find a safer place to save the chicken of the sea given yesterday's MLRS launches against HMS Liverpool.)

Many naval officers and analysts discount (or just ignore) emerging non-state maritime actors to focus on the easier to understand and more traditional naval threats such as the PLAN. But to do so misses the fact that a large portion of the fleet is currently deployed fighting pirates, drug traffickers, and terrorists and will be for the foreseeable future. More importantly, writing off nascent irregular navies (Hamas, Hezbollah, and AMC, to name a few) who are rapidly learning the value of sea control and adaptability is a recipe for future disaster.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.