PivotThe term eco-warrior is not normally meant in a literal sense, but it certainly applies to Matt Griffin and Phillip Wynkoop.
The former Marine and Navy Seal are part of a group known as ‘The Operatives’, who take the fight to people they see as doing the planet wrong, and the high octane conservationists will have their missions broadcast on Pivot.
Their mission statement perfectly sums up their goal:
Expose suspected criminals who are endangering our wildlife and our environment.”
Barbara Veiga/Sea ShepherdSpeaking to the Bro Bible Wynkoop revealed filming included a few heart in mouth moments:
While gathering intel and conducting a SR mission (special reconnaissance) on a warehouse suspected as a hub for illegal wildlife trade, the security guards began pursuing our location. Dogs inside the compound began barking, alerting the security, and they investigated. I fully anticipated a confrontation with the security, who was on the other side of the fence, and could hear them trying to climb over to get a vantage point. Even though the security did not know who or what was in the cover of the vegetation, Stephane and myself had to abort and return to base. It was the closest we came to a bad situation, as we assumed the guards were armed and would protect their illegal operation with force.
The former military men have teamed up with one-time Whale Wars activist, Pete Bethune, who spent five months in a Japanese jail for illegally boarding a whaling vessel.
But the experience appears to have only strengthened his resolve, pushing him and his team to the limit in the name of conservation.
Definitely not your stereotypical hippies with dreadlocks and eating kale then.
