article_snippet.sent: Sea Shepherd Sea Shepherd had been tailing the Thunder -- subject of an Interpol "purple notice" for suspected fraud and fisheries-related crimes -- since Sea Shepherd the Bob Barker encountered Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean several months ago.
article_snippet.sent: The pursuit ended early Monday in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of west Africawest Africa, when the Bob Barker received a distress call from the Thunder.
article_snippet.sent: and they were abandoning the Thunder," said Sea Shepherd spokesman Adam Burling.
article_snippet.sent: On the Thunder, all the hatches had been opened, including the hatch leading to the fish hold.
article_snippet.sent: The pursuit of the Thunder the Thunder began after the Bob Barker encountered a vessel off the coast of Antarctica, said Burling.
article_snippet.sent: the Thunder the Thunder dropped its nets in the water and left the scene; a second Sea Shepherd vessel that was brought in to retrieve the net found about $3 million of toothfish catch in about 72km of illegal gillnet, Burling claimed.
article_snippet.sent: Meanwhile the Bob Barker, supported by a second Sea Shepherd vessel, pursued the Thunder all the way to the Gulf of Guinea.
article_snippet.sent: the Thunder seemed "very relieved" to be rescued.
article_snippet.sent: An Interpol "purple notice," released at the request of New Zealand in December 2013, put out a global call for information on the Thunder, as well as information on "the individuals and networks that own, operate and profit from the illegal actions of a vessel.