Paul Watson and his merry band of bumbling pirates, the Sea Shepherds, stars of the “reality” TV show, Whale Wars, have a new high speed toy boat and have recruited Michelle Rodriguez, the actor who played the kick-ass helicopter pilot in the hit movie, Avatar, to join them at some point, her schedule permitting, on a voyage in the Southern Ocean.  Nothing like a flashy boat  and Hollywood tough-girl glamor when violating international law on “reality TV.”

The new toy boat is the high-tech 115 ft stabilized monohull twin diesel powered vessel, the Ocean_7_Adventurer.  The boat was built to circumnavigate the world in less than 80 days.  It succeeded in rounding the world in 74 days in 1998.   This record was broken in 2008 by the Earthrace, a biodiesel powered wave-piecing trimaran, which completed a circumnavigation in just 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes.  Ironically, the Earthrace, was purchased by Paul Watson and renamed Ady Gil. It was in a collision with the Japanese whaling ship, Shonan Maru 2, and subsequently scuttled by Paul Watson.   Watson, ever the merchandiser, commented, “We have not named the vessel yet because we are looking to sell naming rights.”

In addition to their new toy boat, actor Michelle Rodriguez is volunteering for the crew, though may have conflicts with her schedule.

Michelle Rodriguez, Perrey Reeves at Sea Shepherd’s Los Angeles Night For The Oceans