New ‘Whale Wars’ TV Series Documents Anti-Whaling Activists
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action animal rights organization led by Captain Paul Watson, will get some well-deserved attention in an upcoming seven-part Animal Planet television series titled “Whale Wars,” set to premier November 7th.
The group formed in 1977 after Watson, one of the founders of Greenpeace, became frustrated with the seminal environmental group’s hesitation to engage in direct action. Since then the group has faced down whalers year-after-year by literally chasing their ships around the open seas.
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Unlike most direct action activism, Watson insists that Sea Shepherd’s anti-whaling campaigns are entirely legal. He cites international treaties under the International Whaling Commission that state that any human has the right to interfere with illegal poaching or whaling. While the laws exist, Watson says that Sea Shepherd are the only ones enforcing them. He has been arrested numerous times across the globe but has never been convicted of any wrongdoing.
Last winter, the crew prevented the Japanese from killing at least 300 whales, but not without a fight. The television show documents all the action, including a dramatic hostage situation, flash grenades, gunfire, and full-throttled chases through to antarctic seas. Quite frankly, I wish I had cable.
This teaser gives you a taste of what to expect:
Looking for more on Sea Shepherd? Check out some related posts:
- Greenpeace vs. Sea Shepherd: An Unfortunate Conflict
- Japan Plans to Arrest Sea Shepherd Crew
- Sea Shepherd Now has Former US Navy Lieutenant Onboard
- Animal Planet, Daryl Hannah Join Sea Shepherd Crew For More Whale Wars
- “Madagascar Two” Movie Inaccurate According to Sea Shepherd
- Australia, Greenpeace Opt Out of This Winter’s ‘Whale Wars’
- Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere
Image Credit: Paul Watson via Wiki Commons
I caught One episode and stood slackjawed. The captain stays in his bunk when told they have crewmen missing in the night in those frigid waters? I have been a captain in the bering sea for many years and I could not imagine letting the mate figure it out and me sleeping on. I don’t care how long he had been up.I have been up for a long streches of time, laid down and right away had to get back up for safety reasons( not doing so is not comprehendable to me or any captain I know or have worked for). He is far from
prudent in his seamanship. These guys are anarchists plain and simple. only government can board you’re ship without consent. Yes, I know they can interject if you are illegal fishing. And by that law only allows them very few options which I won’t go into here but does not include, boarding their ship because you don’t like what they are doing.
Wow ! I saw this show on the Animal Planet to my utter horror and dismay ! How does a reputable tv channel like the Animal Planet pick-up this garbage ?
The overt and irrational emotions over whaling have never ceases to amaze me. But in the interest of fairness, here is a bit of disclosure before I begin.
Disclosures:
1) I am an avid “environmentalist.” I wonder about the sanity of people who watch the beauty and the majesty of nature, and think nothing of mowing it down or NOT feel the undying urge to protect it and preserve it for the generations to come. As far as I am concerned, EVERYONE is an environmentalist, for we can NOT live without a healthy environment.
2) Having said that, I also recognize that WE the humanity are an integral part of this environment. I do NOT subscribe to the blind and foolish notion that we must protect all things large and cuddly at the complete exclusion of humanity. Yes, fauna and flora, along with its environment MUST be protected, but sustainable harvest and environmental protection are NOT mutually exclusive. Matter of fact, our history has often proven it to be otherwise. Everyone from the National Geographic to Steve Colbert (of Colbert Report fame) has addressed the positive role that hunters and gamesmen often play in conservation of very species that they hunt.
3) Nor do I subscribe to the argument that we should put forth more effort to save something or protect this and that simply because they are “more intelligent” or for that matter, because they are furrier or cuddlier or cuter. I believe the “intelligence” argument is a dangerously slippery one, and that it has been used to horrific results throughout history . . . the examples are endless – a) the laughable notion that American slaves did not deserve basic human rights because they were inferior in intelligence, or b) that Native Americans were somehow NOT human, or that c) because aborigines did NOT have the Western knowledge nor the notion of sowing the land, that the land did not belong to them . . .
Sensible environmental policy would suggest that eco-systems in its whole should be preserved – from its apex predators all the way down to microscopic organisms that support the foundation of such an eco-system.
. . . now, back to the current whaling situation.
Basic Premise:
The Japanese have hunted whales for centuries. They use every part of the whale, some of it for crucial cultural activities such as Bunraku (Japanese puppetry theatre) where no other substance can be used as a substitute (in this case, baleen).
The whale population was decimated by our own people, the English, the Americans, and the Norwegians, among others, who during the 18th and 19th century spanned far and wide across the world to hunt all whales indiscriminately to satisfy avarice demand for cheap blubber and some fashion fad. Commodore Perry first went to Japan in 1854 to force its cooperation so that American whalers will be sheltered. Ernest Shackleton and his crew were saved by a Norwegian whaling station in Antarctica.
To blame the Japanese for the pathetic and shameful decimation of the whaling population is like blaming the Native Americans for the decimation of the North American buffalo. Moreover, to prevent them from hunting whales because it has now become fashionable to NOT hunt them for us in the West, is nothing short of shameful visit to our imperial past when we imposed our vague moral standards on others and demanded that they modify their behavior to suit our own comfort.
On the “Scientific Research” Issue:
When the International Whaling Commission enacted its moratorium on commercial whaling back in 1986, all pleas for responsible and sustainable whaling were ignored. There was, however, an exception made for “scientific research”. So in order to preserve their cultural heritage, the Japanese now hunt for reasons of “scientific research”.
To ask what “scientific research” they are conducting is an insult to intelligence. They are clearly hunting under those auspices because they have no other choice, and I applaud them for it. Would you have done otherwise ? When people are told NOT to worship, the places of worship go underground. When people are told NOT to speak their languages anymore, home schools pop-up in secret. It is a perfectly rational, perfectly intelligent, and the only way to keep ones culture alive, and to prevent it from going the way of so many cultures that have been murdered by the whim of the Western “high moral ground.”
So I say, provided that it is sustainable, hunt on, Japan !
Message to the Imperialists:
As for imperialists in Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd hell bent on cultural destruction and forcible imposition of their thoughtless values, their time and resources would be better spent on focusing on other issues – impending global warming, prevention of drag-net fishing that is decimating the ocean fish stocks, or rampant habitat destruction in many of the developing worlds.
If they really want someone to blame for the current sorry state of whales in the world, then they should NOT look to the people who have sustainably harvested whales for centuries. Instead, they should look to their own ancestors and the policies taken by those ancestors.
Finally . . . :
Final caveat to above. Having said all of this, I do think it wise to monitor closely the catches made by the Japanese, or whoever else. I believe the Rudd Government (Australia)’s monitoring of the Japanese whaling fleet is a great idea.
Like all things in life, accountability and transparency are critical in making sure that the system work, especially systems as delicate and fragile as sustainable harvesting.
But the despicable actions by the Sea Shepherd boat and its crew members have no place in thoughtful environmental policy.
This show is an insult to other reputable, science based shows that the channel carries.
omg are you serious. these guys are terrorists plain and simple. when they illegally boarded that boat they should have been shot. when they “disabled” the rudder to stop the ship, they are guilty of destruction of Japanese government property. They are not police, they are not international water regulars, they are a bunch of nuts tryig to egg the Japanese into doing something that would make them seem “evil”. This has got to be the most ridicoulus dispay of stupidity that I ever seen. These people deserved to be jailed thinking that they are above laws just because they think they are “saving the whales” OH Frikken idiots!!!!
I can’t believe this stuff. What is next? I don’t like baseball, so I guess I should start a group of people like me to start terrorizing professional baseball games? Or maybe a group should get together and start terrorizing people we don’t like due to political differences, color or religious beliefs? Where does it stop?
I personnally don’t like the whaling industry myself, but that doesn’t give me (or anyone else) the right to take the law into their own hands. This group needs to be arrested. End of story.
The Japanese need a boat named STINGRAY to take care of the STEVE IRwin
The thing that kept running through my head was , JONES TOWN in south America, The Capitan reminded me of Jim Jones who KILLED his followers. The women on the Steve Irwin remind me of Charles Manson Girl friends.. It is too bad these people do not fight this hard to stop WORLD HUNGER, Help there own species..
The show was entertaining, but my gut feeling was the captain and crew, were Diabolical and Ignorant, MANSON and JIM JONES were fighting for what they believed in..
I am a AMERICAN, but if I was in the Japan Government, The Steve Irwin would just disappear or The Japanese people should send a ship out to throw stink bombs and make the steve irwin dead in the water and I would cal the Japanese ship, STINGRAY
The thing that kept running through my head was , JONES TOWN in south America, The Capitan reminded me of Jim Jones who KILLED his followers. The women on the Steve Irwin remind me of Charles Manson Girl friends.. It is too bad these people do not fight this hard to stop WORLD HUNGER, Help there own species..
The show was entertaining, but my gut feeling was the captain and crew, were Diabolical and Ignorant, MANSON and JIM JONES were fighting for what they believed in..
I am a AMERICAN, but if I was in the Japan Government, The Steve Irwin would just disappear or The Japanese people should send a ship out to throw stink bombs and make the steve irwin dead in the water and I would cal the Japanese ship, STINGRAY
have thet even saved one whale yet. these stupid people are probably pro choice as well.
a ship of fools
a cook that can not cook, so it’s off to the flight deck swinging a gaff..
let’s lower the small boat at 8 knots without a painter
crew’s lost at night in small boat ? Captain won’t wake up ??
Egos everywhere..
I work as an Engineer on board, you sneak on my boat and you’re going to get a bat across the forearms or a shovel ‘cross the face … “dreadhead” and his buddy were very lucky those fisherman were peaceful.
My son and I watch it as much for the antics as the great pictures..
I’m not into killing whales but at least it’s Minke and not the Right Whales that we nearly wiped out..
what about the rumor of the “Stingray Maru” ??
save the whales……………….till we make more Tarter sauce !
[...] Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and star of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, wrote a lengthy condemnation of the Canadian government’s decision. He noted that the government [...]
This show is a superb example of what gives environmentalists a bad name. The crew are engaging in terrorist activities in order to try to impose their view of what’s right and wrong on others. Perhaps Japanese fisherman should stalk the crew of this vessel and throw bombs at them whenever they eat a hamburger or step on an ant. I used to support environmental causes, but no more.
I always find it telling that supporters of these types of cause are generally celebrities with too much time and money on their hands. Anyone who has seen some of the real problems in the world, the human suffering (e.g. malaria, starvation), would realize there are far better places to focus one’s energy than supporting environmental terrorists.