This is not a continuation of imperialism, but virtue signalling, something not infrequently seen in the author's columns.

Sea Shepherd's views are echoed by many other virtue signalers all over the "civilized world" and are aimed at many anywhere in the world, whether they are subsistence hunters, people of East Asian cultures eating a traditional food source that we "enlightened ones" consider pets, a Danish zoo publicly dissecting a diseased and euthanized lion for educational purposes, or a young Native Alaskan man, obtaining food for his village.

WEIRD = Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

"Given that people living in WEIRD societies don’t routinely encounter or interact with animals other than humans or pets, it’s not surprising that they end up with a rather cartoonish understanding of the natural world." 

https://psmag.com/social-justice/joe-henrich-weird-ultimatum-game-shaking-up-psychology-economics-5