Whale Wars
Whales Wars is an interesting documentary/reality show that has been on Animal Planet for 2 seasons. The show is about a war between two sides, conservationists part of the organization Sea Shepherd and Japanese Whalers who hunt off of the coast of Antarctica.
There is a constant struggle between both sides about the legality of the whaling operations. The conservationists believe that the whalers are illegally hunting the whales in a whale sanctuary and are using research as a way to be able to freely hunt the whales. The whalers believe quite the contrary and that the Sea Shephards acts are reckless.
Sea Shepherd
The head of the organization is Captain Paul Watson who has spent the last 40 years in protecting wildlife. Paul is also a co-founder of greenpeace and created the Sea Shephards in an attempt to protect marine wildlife. In order to stop the whalers from continuing their work, the members use a variety of tactics including attempts to block and disable the Japanese vessels and throwing butyric acid bottles onto their ships. Don’t be alarmed by the name butyric acid, it’s no more than a glorified stink bomb produced from rotting butter that is intended to taint any whale meat so that it is no longer sellable.
The Show
Discovery decided to do a documentary on the battle between the two sides in late 2008. Film crews are on their main ship the Steve Irwin to give some insight into the organizations efforts. Here is a trailer of the series from what it first started:
Both sides of this war have been criticized heavily by different groups. I began watching this show in its second season last year and have been captivated by it since. Even though many criticize the group for being careless and sometimes reckless, all of the people aboard the Steve Irwin show deep passion to save the lives of these animals. Regardless of how you feel about either side of the issue, this show is definitely worth watching. Keep any eye out for the upcoming season during the Summer of 2010.
Comments
It is a shame that the Japanese have been able to get away with this annual whale hunt under the cover of scientific research. Other countries should do more to put pressure on the Japanese to stop this illegal hunt. I applaud the efforts of the Sea Shepherd crew in this fight.
Whales’ populations decrease year by year. If they are still yet to take serious action on this matter, whales will soon come to a situation what we are encounting now with tiger.
This type of cruelty is disgusting and must be stopped. Killing animal just for the sake of research is something that must not be permitted.
It’s not even for the sake of research. Claiming it’s for research is just how Japan gets away with this. All they have to do is some quick measurements of each whale and they can claim it’s just research. They pretend it’s not really to fill the demand for this rare delicacy.
Interesting video of whale wars.