Beast Into Beauty

Gojira is gone.
Sea Shepherd’s fast interceptor vessel Gojira (Godzilla) helped rout the nasty Nippon whalers from the Sthrn.Ocean Whale Sanctuary earlier this year. It was funny to have Japanese media report the whaling fleet was fleeing from Godzilla (the giant lizard star of several C-grade Japanese movies)! But the filmmakers’ lawyers weren’t amused and served SS with a notice to remove the name.
No worries - Gojira had served its purpose well...
So Captain Paul Watson proposed to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation (BBF) its renaming as the Brigitte Bardot after the dedicated animal rights activist. The relationship between Brigitte and Paul goes way back to 1977 when Watson took Bardot to the

Brigitte and Paul?

ice off the coast of Labrador to pose with a baby seal. With that one iconic photo, Bardot brought the harp seals issue to the world’s attention, a turning point in the fight to stop this annual Canadian slaughter.
SS and BBF have worked together in partnership for many years, last year in the Faroe Islands.

Watson examines Bardot's assets

And thus, with a few licks of paint, Brigitte Bardot joins the SS fleet of Steve Irwin and Bob Barker. Its first role will be in Libyan waters, tracking down bluefin tuna poachers taking advantage of the war zone to illegally exploit these endangered fish.
My only concern about a hi-tech vessel like this is: if it's taken down into the Southern Ocean, is it capable of mastering the stormy seas down there? Time will tell.