He came close to death but his passion won't stop him taking risks again.
Mount Maunganui firefighter Mike Smith has just returned home to partner Amy Taylor, after a 2 1/2 month adventure on the high seas that could have cost him his life.
Mr Smith, 39, was on board the Ady Gil when it was struck by a Japanese whaling boat on January 6.
A newbie to the world of environmental protesting, Mr Smith was one of six crew on the Ady Gil, securing his place after becoming friends with the skipper Pete Bethune.
His only preparation for his trip into the wild was a jaunt around the top of the North Island. Little did he know he was in for a potentially deadly adventure after that.
The bow of the Sea Shepherd's trimaran, Ady Gil, was sheared off after it and the larger Japanese ship collided.
Both sides blame the other for the crash, which occurred as the Ady Gil harassed the Japanese fleet.
Mr Smith flew home on January 31 from Fremantle, Perth, after being shipped there from the Kerguelen Islands on Sea Shepherd's main ship the Steve Irwin. He spent February 1 in Tauranga Hospital with a stress-related eye injury but is slowly returning to normal life.
He will be back at work on Monday.
Speaking from his Mount Maunganui apartment, Mr Smith said despite a fearful time in the water, it had been a "great experience" that was a catch-22.
"We were down there to stop whaling and in some way, the sinking of the Ady Gil got that message out to the world," he said.
In retelling the lead-up to when the Ady Gil was hit, Mr Smith said the crew had been harassing the mother and processing ship, Nisshin Maru with a spud gun to slow it down so the society vessel the Bob Barker, could catch up.
"We were shooting apples, and going around the ship [in circles]. We also had a prop fouler but I'd liken that to putting dental floss across the road to stop a car. It's not that effective. It was a huge ship." The aim had been to put doubt in the Nisshin Maru crew's minds that they should slow down, or change course.
While harassing the ship, Mr Smith said a security boat for Nisshin Maru, the Shonan Maru No 2, had approached from a distance.
"They were on a course towards us and did a distinct turn to make us in their line of sight."
At that point, none of the crew had been panicking though. "They were saying,'Take photos, Mike'. And I said,'Yeah, sweet as'."
But as the Shonan Maru got closer, its crew released water cannons and a loud hailer on the Ady Gil.
"The water started spraying on us and I turned to protect the camera. Even then, when they were really close, I really didn't think we were going to be hit," he said.
The bow of the Ady Gil was sheared off when it and the Shonan Maru No2 collided. The Japanese ship suffered no apparent damage.
"At the time, my adrenalin was going and it was frightening. I saw the two bows collide and I was jumping," Mr Smith said.
"I landed on my shoulder and my neck and as I looked up I just saw the shoulder of the boat coming at us.
"I thought I was going to be crunched and go under the boat and get a big propeller in my head."
But Mr Smith got away with just a whiplash injury.
Others on the boat weren't so lucky, one crew member sustaining two broken ribs.
After the boats hit, Mr Smith said the Ady Gil crew went into "survival mode", salvaging what they could and waiting what "felt like an eternity" for the the Bob Barker to arrive 10 to 20 minutes later.
Mr Smith claims they put a mayday call out to the Japanese fleet, which was ignored.
For the next few days, two of the Nisshin Maru's boating fleet, including the Shonan Maru No2, had allegedly circled the Bob Barker. "[The Ady Gil] was the only boat in the fleet that was going to keep up with the Nisshin Maru, so getting it out of the picture achieved their goal.
"It was a big reality check how close I came to death and makes you realise how the people in your life mean so much to you.
"When I go into a fire I'm always prepared, always taking some sort of resource. Nothing in the world can you prepare you for having your boat rammed," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Mr Smith said that after the ordeal, the crew of the Ady Gil were even more determined to stop whaling.
He recalled: "We were sitting there and it was a beautiful, calm, glorious day and these humpback whales were turning over on their backs, really checking us out. They are so inquisitive and it really made us sad to think that the next boat they see will be a harpooning boat."
He said it could take up to 45 minutes for a harpooned whale to die.
"The Japanese are hundreds of miles from home and have raped and pillaged all their waters and now want ours."
Mr Smith's partner, Amy Taylor, an equally passionate anti-whaler, said all New Zealanders should think about what they could do to help.
She advocated people watch The Cove, a documentary that exposed Japan's wholesale slaughter of thousands of dolphins.
"Here in New Zealand, we have one dolphin (Moko) that people travel the length of New Zealand to see ... I don't know how people can do what they do to them in Japan. It's heartbreaking," she said.
Mr Smith agreed.
"I'd really like to get the message out there to more people and protest the Japanese Government as well. One person who can stop this is the Japanese president but the Japanese Government is subsidising whaling."
Putting oneself out of one's comfort zone was needed for people to take notice of important causes, he believed.
"It was a great opportunity and great cause to go down and try and stop this murder. It's also about protecting and respecting our oceans and the resources in them. Not just whales, but all sea life."
On the web: www.seashepherd.org
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