The liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the crew of the “Sea Shepherd,” a group of anti-whaling protesters, were modern-day pirates. The February 25 decision reversed a district court decision in Washington State.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the star of Emmy-nominated “Whale Wars” on Animal Planet, uses its small fleet of ships to harass would-be whalers. “[H]ell bent on stopping the whaling industry for nearly a decade,” according to their official Animal Planet bio, Sea Shepherd, led by Paul Watson, had long pushed the envelope as to what constitutes a legal protest.

Watson has used such direct tactics in the past, arguing that “There's nothing wrong with being a terrorist so long as you win.” He claimed in a 2008 New Yorker interview to have sunk as many as 10 whaling boats.