Just like the 9-11 terrorists, Paul Watson sees himself as some sort of hero and not as a terrorist. They all see themselves as heroes on a mission from God. Paul Watson and his friends probably see the hijackers more as heroes and less as Terrorists.
If Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society really wanted to end whaling, all he would have to do is to find the whaling ships and follow the whalers in boats fitted with underwater acoustic equipment much like the LRAD system the Japanese whalers have used. This would frighten the whales away and keep them away from the whaling ships. Something on the order an ultrasonic dog repellant device. With the physics of sound waves traveling through water, there would not be whale within 10 miles of a whaling boat, but that would negate having to engage in direct contact with the enemy that makes for great fundraising stories i.e. there is no money in that plan. It would also allow for utilizing much smaller boats to thwart the whaler's efforts. No sea captain wants to downsize their boat and with Paul Watson's ego built up on being an outlaw rebel pirate, no reduction in boat length is going to happen. Of course if money is the primary concern over their actions attempting to save whales, there is no reason to adopt this battle plan.
This is how I feel about the situation as well, people who don't like what the Japanese are doing are imposing their values on a different culture just because they have an emotional attachment to the animals. The Japanese don't see the animals as some magical creature with the same mental level as humans, they're just animals.
ps.
I am sorry for whalers that have to work near so many knee jerk irrationals that never do anything but trash the livlihood of whalers.
Everyone loves the whales, no one loves the whalers.