Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere
Prior to Friday’s premiere of the new Animal Planet series Whale Wars, Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research has accused Animal Planet of ecoterrorism.
The show will chronicle the exploits of an anti-whaling group who takes their quest directly to the front lines, trying to stop Japanese whaling vessels from succeeding in killing whales.
Planetsave editor and contributor Alex Felsinger recently previewed the exciting series. In short, it chronicles how the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stopped Japanese whalers from killing at least 300 whales last winter by using harsh, combative tactics.
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The Society is not afraid to unleash their fury. The show depicts hostage situations, gunfire, the attempted destruction of whaling boats, and the throwing of powerful smoke bombs on board ships. It’s not surprising given that the leader of the group, Captain Paul Watson, co-founded Greenpeace. Supposedly Watson left Greenpeace because they weren’t aggressive enough for his tastes, although other sources claim he was kicked out.
So whether or not Animal Planet is being rightly accused of supporting eco-terrorists is unclear. In addition to accusing Animal Planet of supporting ecoterrorism, the Institute of Cetacean Research has also accused them of helping the crew of the Sea Shepherd to “stage” an attack on the crew’s boat with gunfire, an event they claim never really occurred.
Personally, I find Japan’s defiance and disregard of the international whaling ban to be the true crime. They claim that they do whaling for scientific purposes, even though whale meat is sold and consumed in Japan as a delicacy, even in schools. This occurs despite recent evidence that whale meat contains toxic mercury levels.
Japan doesn’t even want to play nice after other countries tried to do so at this year’s annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission. Their response after other countries tried not to take any offensive actions was to say: “We are witnessing the death of the International Whaling Commission.”
If you are reading Planetsave, then you are probably as fired up as we are to watch the premiere of Whale Wars. Feel free to leave your thoughts about the show in our comments section.
Photo Credit: Animal Planet
Using terrorism to push your agenda pollutes your cause.
Consuming the meat once the animal is dead and the research has been conducted is surely better than letting it rot somewhere?
It has been interesting to read the comments posted here. I love the fact that people are now talking about the whale killing. This is the first step toward enacting any type of change. I would like to see people keep it more factual rather than personal as that devalues the entire purpose. They say that in order to “debate” a subject a person needs to be able to defend the opposite position- in order to truely understand the issues.
Personally, as an avid SCUBA diver, I can tell you that our oceans are in a crisis. As a chemist I can tell you that our oceans are in a crisis. We are starting to see a fundamental change in the pH buffering capacity of the oceans - trust me this is HUGE. All living organisms in our oceans, not just the whales are struggling to adjust, and their populations are declining. In the end if our oceans fail, if our oceans become unhealthy - we as a species will follow suit.
I hope people will watch Whale Wars, become educated about the situation and form their own opinion of the tatics utilized by Sea Sheperd. In the end there will always be two sides to every story. As my dear late grandfather always said: “I may not agree with what you have to say - but god damn it - I fought in World War 2 for you to have the right to say it!.” Go forth and continue to talk about the killing of the whales - PLEASE talk loudly and furiously.
While I don’t personally agree with every tactic Sea Shepherd uses in their goal to stop whaling, their results, however controversial, have been effective. At least it would appear so.
How much of the incidents, on both side (Japan vs SS) is true or fabricated, I’m not sure we’ll ever know.
I am FOR the end of all whale hunts. It’s unncessary, inhumane, and cruel. These are sentient beings and Japan having a quota of 1,000 whales per year to cull all in the name of research, just doesn’t sound right. What for? A thousand whales? Researching what?
Japan blames the whales for the overfishing problem. Instead of taking responsibility that mankind is the ultimate culprit, to me they seem to be cowards by blaming the marine mammals. Well hello? The ocean is THEIR home. it’s not ours to rape and pillage in the name of ‘research’ and profit.
Just my ever so humble opinion of course
Thanks for a great article … I’m linking your blog on mine to keep up with
Mahalo,
Dolphin
‘Whale Wars’ whilst it sounds highly interesting seems likely to be a biased piece that neglects points of view different to those of the makers. Methods of whaling are indeed not very humane but this is not the only field where that is the case and Japan is not the only country to do so. it is important not to neglect the history of whaling and which countries brought certain whales to their present state.
As for research whaling it is within the laws of the IWC and presents research papers regularly and does provide relevant data. The IWC requires that whale meat not be wasted and therefore the Japanese government sells it to help pay research costs. There is no profit made from the sale of this meat and eating it is not particularly popular in Japan. In fact the sale of the meat does not even cover the costs of the research.
As for cruelty in eating meat, I think it is natural for humans as omnivores to eat both meat and vegetables. Without modern advances vegetarians would have difficulty surviving without meat. humans are animals and like many other animals we eat meat. I think it highly judgemental to call those who eat meat cruel or wrong. It is also questionable to use the `intelligence` of whales as a basis of whether they should or should not be eaten. There are many species of whales and what are the criteria of intelligence? how about the lambs that are killed?
Whaling should be judged by the same standards as other industries and we should be careful not to impose our food culture on others.
Does anyone not care that they are illegally fishing in a sanctuary? its like going to the zoo and shooting a lion and saying ‘its ok that i broke the law (UN Chartered too!) cause im doing it for research’. That is the big wrong! Who are they not to obey the UN?
I liked the comment made by “Tessa” - “Whaling should be judged by the same standards as other industries and we should be careful not to impose our food culture on others”. This point is a powerful one. This truly is not an issue of meat eater versus non-meat eater. That debate will continue into eternity.
I think the fundamental issue is that the whale populations are declining (in general - I am certain someone will find a statistic for one species of whale that is rebounding), should we be contributing to a quicker decline? This issue has already been played out in the small fishing villages in Canada. The fishing industry failed to evaluate the warning signs of diminishing fish stocks and continued to fish, fish, fish. The result, a number of fishing villages in absolute economic despair - there is not enough fish. Would the outcome have been different if they would have made adjustments and attempted to let the fish bio-system regenerate (i.e. leave it alone for 5-10 years)then return to fishing with a different prespective on sustainability?
I see the whaling issue exactly the same - we know that the populations are in serious peril. So why can we not simply sit back and leave it alone to permit it to regenerate? Yes, I know that people will hurt in the mean-time (fishermen, etc)but they will hurt in the end when the whales are either extinct or in so few numbers it would be as if they were gone. Then we have to realize/accept that some will want to return to whale hunting (something that makes me sick), lets hope that they return with restraint and improve methods for such activities. Just my prespective. Continue to TALK, TALK, TALK - involve others.
According to the International Whaling Commission, Japan hunts mostly Minke whales in southern waters. The southern hemisphere Minke population was estimated at half a million to over a million at the time commercial whaling ceased; the current estimate is still pending.
During the November to March season, Japanese whalers made the following annual catches, 2001 through 2007: 440, 441, 443, 441, 866 (including 10 Fin whales), 511 (3 Fin), 551. The last season I guess is the one on Animal Planet.
http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/estimate.htm#table
http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/table_permit.htm
Absolutely insane! This show is glorifying these activists. I’m not sure Steve Irwin would have wanted his name tied to this. If I were the Japanese, and doing what is legal, within the limit allowed by law, I would not be as peaceful as they were with these idiots. Throwing butyric acid, and trying to wrap their prop up with rope in the middle of nowhere, IS physically attacking them. When they board without permission after those acts, I would take it as a very real threat. What a cheap shot to claim to the media, that they had been “taken hostage”. Whether you agree with what they are doing or not is not the point. The only people committing crimes are those on board the Steve Irwin, and Animal planet is making them look like heroes…even with their little “disclaimer” at the beginning.
Being a vegan for ethical reasons is stupid. Have you actually ever watched discovery channel. When a wildabeast gets stuck in the mud the Lions don’t help it get out, nor give it a swift death. They slowly chump at it, while it still struggles to get free. There is humane and then there is stupid. Most vegans are stupid.
Congrats…this makes me want to take up whaling. I guarantee anyone trying to board my ship without permission will be considered pirates and dealt with accordingly.