At a small pier at the bottom of Ann Street in Williamstown, a bayside suburb of Melbourne is a small letterbox with the words "Sea Shepherd" painted over it. It is a remarkably open entry to what has been characterized as the Action Directe of environmental NGOs, given to scuttling whaling ships in harbor, shining laser beams into the eyes of whalers, throwing foul-smelling bottles of acid onto vessels it deems to be harming ocean life and destruction of fishing nets at sea, and other intimidating tactics.