OTTAWA - Boat crasher and eco-radical Paul Watson can run, but he can't hide from authorities forever, says a world-renowned privacy expert and bounty hunter.

"I think he'll be caught anywhere between two weeks to a month (from now)," Frank Ahearn told Sun News Network.

Watson is wanted after skipping $307,000 bail in Germany.

The Canadian founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society saying German police and Japanese officials were part of a conspiracy to extradited him to face charges for disrupting whaling activities.

"For with Japan, there is the absolute certainty that once in Japanese custody, I will never be released," Watson wrote in an online posting explaining why he gave German police the slip.

The Embassy of Japan in Ottawa confirms it requested Watson's extradition July 19 in connection to a 2010 illegal boarding of a whaling vessel.

"Watson is charged with crimes including causing injury, and forcible obstruction of business," the embassy said in a statement.

While Watson remains hidden for now, authorities may only need to wait until he comes up to breathe the air of publicity again.

"I think somewhere along the line there's going to be something that he's going to plan or that his people will plan and that's what will be his downfall," Ahearn said.

Watson has a global network of true-believers who can help hide him, "plus he's a man of the water, so he could be anywhere in any ocean or sea, or slip into any port without being noticed," Ahearn said.

The fact that Watson was willing to forfeit bail also indicates just what kind of resources he can tap into, Rob Currie, an international criminal law professor at Halifax's Dalhousie University said.

"Either he's just forfeited that money himself or there's a really annoyed German environmentalist kicking around somewhere," Currie said.

However, any organization or individual now helping Watson hide could face criminal charges.

"We would call that obstructing justice (in Canada)," Currie said. "Different countries would have similar kinds of criminal charges that they could bring to bear."

Interpol has asked police forces around the world to keep Japan in the loop about Watson's movements.