By NICOLE VALICEK
THE football world and tales from members of an anti-whaling fleet will meet before the Seagulls’ first home game next Sunday.
Sea Shepherd Australia welcomed home a 110-strong international crew and three ships, the Steve Irwin, Sam Simon and Bob Barker, to Williamstown recently.
Their return marked an end to their most successful campaign to date defending whales in the Southern ocean, with the Japanese whalers returning home with the lowest kill ever.
Crew member from the Sea Shepard ship Sam Simon, Alistair Allan, and crew member Nick Reese from the Steve Irwin will share their experiences before the Williamstown Football club clash against the Coburg Tigers.
Mr Allan, originally from Hervey Bay, has served on all three Sea Shepard ships and has volunteered to put himself in harm’s way to save the whales since 2010.
A Melbourne native and physiotherapist, Nick Reese joined the Whales’ Navy first as an on-shore volunteer in Melbourne last year, and then decided to crew for Operation Zero Tolerance as a deckhand on the Steve Irwin.
Williamstown Football club president Trevor Monti said the visitors will be warmly welcome at the president’s match day luncheon.
“They have taken great risks of their own personal safety to protect the lives of the whales from mass slaughter by Japanese,” Mr Monti said.
As well as sharing tales of their experience the crew members will produce dramatic footage of the voyage.
All three Sea Shepherd ships were damaged after being struck multiple times by the 8000 ton Nisshin Maru.
The Sea Shepherd crew also endured attacks by concussion grenades and being hit with water cannon.
