Friday marked the season finale of the Animal Planet show Whale Wars. For those of you unacquainted with the show, it chronicles the voyages of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a group opposed to whaling, as they confront Japanese whalers off the coast of Antarctica. While watching, I was amused by their total ineptitude in trying to stop the Japanese whalers and during the course of two episodes I filled a clipboard of examples of this total lack of professionalism and experience. I will begin by giving a summary of the involved parties and then delve into my own grievances.
The Whale Wars website gives the following explanation of the controversy:
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In 1986, Japan withdrew its opposition to the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling. The following year, Japan announced a large-scale scientific whaling program designed to assess whale stocks. Their goal? A resumption of commercial whaling with set, sustainable limits.
Many experts have questioned the scientific validity of this program, suggesting that Japan’s research is nothing more than a front for continued whaling.
Japan maintains that its methods are sound.
Japan’s scienfitic whaling program continues to this day; in fact, it has grown considerably. Activist groups like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claim that Japan’s whaling practices violate international law. Japan claims the direct-action tactics of Sea Shepherd are illegal, in essence a form of eco-terrorism.
I suppose that that is a pretty unbiased view of the situation. (Even if they did spell scientific wrong in the last paragraph. Way to go Animal Planet.) The ship followed is called the Steve Irwin, named for a man who loved nature so much it killed him. If anyone is superstitious I would deem this an inappropriate title for a ship going into dangerous situations. The ship’s captain is Paul Watson, and his experience includes service in the Canadian Coast Guard, Greenpeace as well as being the founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice his life for his causes. Not really the kind of person you want captaining a boat full of people around a fleet of whaling vessels. The rest of the crew are volunteers with varying levels of experience, but a common blind devotion to whales and Captain Paul Watson.
Now on to the good stuff. I didn’t watch the first season, however there is an episode synopsis here. If you read it, you have an idea of the kind of recklessness to which I’m referring. I don’t really what they thought was gonna happen when they illegally boarded another vessel, but to me the result was pretty predictable. I won’t really be referring to anything in the first season so I’ll move on.
I’m looking at my notes here and kind of giggling to myself because it’s all so ridiculous. I guess I’ll put my observances in list form, it’s funnier this way.
1. The Steve Irwin has a zero hull rating for ice. That’s the lowest rating possible and it basically means that if they run into a snowball, the ship is sinking. To take a ship like that into ANTARCTICA is plain irresponsible. Especially when they get trapped against an iceberg by an ice flow and have to try to push their way out. There were crew members below watching the hull get pushed in by ice and they were supposed to stay there in case a leak sprung. The camera guy wisely left the camera and got the hell out. It would be bad enough if you took a crew full of experienced seamen but you have a crew of untested volunteers.
2. Your 1st mate looks like the squeaky voiced teen.
3. Half of the episodes are devoted to trying to actually find the whaling fleet, and usually failing.
4. Once you actually find a boat and are trying to attack them by throwing butyric acid, you get too close and accidentally hit the other boat. Considering the hull of that ship can rip through yours like a paper bag, maybe you should be a little more careful.
5. Your captain is a mouthbreather.
6. You put in a small boat so it can race up to one of the Japanese whaling fleet vessels and attack, but it promptly flies off in the wrong direction. They don’t know how to use the GPS and there is no compass on board. I understand that you really don’t care about your crew, but guess what, you just lost a boat.
7. You accidentally overturn one of your small boats in the freezing Antarctic water. Crew inexperience is blamed. No shit.
8. They start shooting flares at the whaling fleet and almost hit their own helicopter. It’s a shame because the chopper pilot seems like the only one with a functioning brain. Also, you’re shooting flares and line throwing rockets. These are safety devices for your own ship and you’re on a ship that finds itself in trouble frequently. Maybe you shouldn’t use them up.
9. The crew argues CONSTANTLY about how things should be done on the ship.
10. They have these lines called prop foulers. The theory behind these things is that you take a small boat and run in front of one of the whaling fleet vessels, let it run out in front of the ship and when the ship runs it over, it gets tied into the propeller and stops it. Pretty effective in theory. In practice, the Sea Shepherds have no idea how to use one. They constantly deploy too early and the ship doesn’t even go over the line. One time, they actually got it in front of the ship, but the ship just stopped and pulled it out of the water. They only have a couple of these things and they’re expensive so losing one is significant. Another time, they thought they got one of the harpoon vessels, but the ship was back in action within an hour.
11. The crew whines when the whalers throw bolts at them, while they’re throwing glass bottles of butyric acid at the whalers. Oh yeah, and hitting them with their ship.
12. In the second to last episode, the captain is sleeping below when a harpoon vessel comes up to the factory ship. The crew on the bridge thinks that they see a whale attached to the side of the vessel and wake up the captain. The captain proclaims that there is no whale and goes back to sleep. Five minutes later they see a whale being loaded onto the factory ship. Good call Captain.
13. The crew is under the impression that while the Steve Irwin is chasing the whaling fleet, they can’t kill whales. Turns out they can and they do, so what are you really doing out there?
14. The Captain attempted to stop the whalers from transferring the whales to the factory ship three times without success. Also, the whales are already dead and the whalers have a specific quota. If you stop them from getting the already dead whale on board the factory ship, won’t they just kill another whale? If you’re really trying to save whales instead of just being grade A douches, ensuring that another whale dies probably isn’t the best way to do it.
15. In the final episode of the season, the Captain puts the Steve Irwin directly behind the factory ship in hopes that they won’t be able to load any whales while they’re there. Then the captain wisely puts someone else in charge while he goes to do a phone interview. When he comes back he finds that the crewman has predictably overshot the factory ship which is now off their port bow. To get back behind the factory vessel, the captain cuts directly in front of the factory ship, which misses the Steve Irwin by about ten feet. The Captain states that if the factory ship had hit them, it would have sheared off their back end. THEN WHY DID YOU DO THAT?? It turns out that a harpoon vessel is coming up behind the factory ship with a whale. The captain rushes at the harpoon vessel, fully intending to hit it if it doesn’t change course. It does and the crew claims victory. But wait! The harpoon vessel has made a U-turn and is now behind the Steve Irwin. It passes the Steve Irwin and gets into position behind the factory ship. The Captain attempts to get in between the two vessels but his ship isn’t fast enough. Instead he deliberately rams the harpoon ship. After grinding on the ship for a couple minutes, the captain backs off. The crew claims victory again, even though they don’t stop the whale from being harvested. Also, there is a hole in their hull near the water line. The engineers patch the hole, but the Captain could have easily sunk the boat. I know you don’t care whether you live or die, but maybe your crew does and they’re your responsibility.
16. Good news though, when they get back to Australia the police are waiting for them to do an investigation. Good thing you taped all that incriminating evidence, which was then confiscated.
In conclusion, I am not condoning whaling. I agree it should be stopped, but there are other ways to go about it. I don’t understand what drives people like this but I’d guess it’s their own sense of moral superiority. Captain Paul Watson has displayed a history of using extremist measures to try and make his point. Eventually he’s going to get people killed. After being on a ship run like that for one campaign I honestly can’t see why anyone would want to sign on again. Also, they killed and harvested whales right in front of them and they could do nothing to stop it. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions and while their intentions are good, their methods quite obviously are not. Anyway, its nice to have misguided do-gooders to entertain the rest of us.
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Listen: Pearl Jam, “The Whale Song”
Quote: “Hell isn’t merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them.” – Aldous Huxley
VICTORY!! All the posts on the front page are now MINE!
There are a few things you need to remember. First of all, all the volunteers are aware of what they do down there before they sign on. They know the risks, and they agree to go knowingly and willingly. I’m not justifying the risks they take, just making it clear that none of them go against their will.
Secondly, the thing Sea Shepherd do “something”. They may not succeed, but they are out there on the front line working hard to make Whaling hard. The Govts of the world wont do anything, so these guys go out there and do it! I have nothing but respect for them.
I’m a kiwi, and something that most New Zealanders have in common is a sheer hatred for Whaling and a ferocious passion for Green Peace and organizations like Sea Shepherd.
I’m not saying that they go against their will, but I’m pretty sure most of them don’t count on the ship going to the briny deep. Also, I’m sure they do “something.” Probably in the same fashion that I’m doing “something” sitting here watching Sports Center. (Go Phils!) Just because you’re a delicious tropical fruit doesn’t mean I have to believe you.
Clint,
That’s a long rant to demonstrate that you are spineless and uneducated about what drives the passion to protect our earth.
Rome
Spineless? Absolutely. I had mine removed in an effort to make wrestling weight. As for uneducated, I doubt it. The Earth can protect itself. It’s existed long before we were around and will exist long after we are gone.
Clint,
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is the authoritative source for anyone looking to learn more about what drives the passion to protect the earth. The relevant planeteer for this show would be Gi, who controls the power of water.
Pete
Are you sure it wouldn’t be Ma-Ti whose Heart ring allows him telepathic communication with animals and Gaia? Can two Planeteers work together? It seems like the world would be destroyed if that happened. Can anyone clear this up for us??
Their heart is in the right place, but your observations are completely correct! I watched it with my wife and kept pointing out all the bonehead mistakes they kept making in addition to the poor decisions by the captain. So funny! good post
Thanks for the comment Mike. I was wondering if anyone was gonna hit me with an agreement, I kinda had already resigned myself to catching guff from most people. I find it funny as well, but also kind of scary. You really can’t afford to make many mistakes in the Antarctic and this crew seems to have mistakes in spades. It’s really a matter of luck that none of them have been killed. I know they value the lives of whales more than their own, but what happens when the boat starts to sink. Rescue operations are mounted from various countries and people that have no interest in their cause are put at risk. Kind of a dick move.
Uh-oh seems like they are up to their old tricks again. Some interesting episodes of “whale wars” should be on the way!
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1165517/-Anti-whaling-ship-cut-in-half
you f*cking idiot, id love to see you make attempt to do what they are doing, and commenting on their personal appearance is nothing to do with it, and just shows your uneducated. you’d want to get your facts and figures in order and look at yourself before commenting on others.
First off, I did edit this to put that asterisk in but that’s all I touched. I’m sure you would love to see me attempt to do what they’re doing, but as I thought I made clear in the post, I really have no interest in doing so. Another attack on my level of education. Well I’d just point out that I’ve passed fifth grade so I know the difference between your and you’re. You meant you’re. It’s a contraction meaning you are. In addition, I don’t think there was anything wrong with my facts and figures. Maybe you don’t like my opinions, but last time I checked this is my blog and I can think anything I want. There is a mirror in my bathroom and I look at myself about three hundred times a day. I’m a dreamboat.
Well it´s good to hear that some one else recognise poor seamansship. If I´d be crew on that doomed ship I´d ralley for a Round robin letter to be passed around. For those not sailors, that is a letter for mutany. The thing I´m most conserned about is that the Captain is hardly move at all. He seem´s to be counting on others to do the tasks THE F*CKING COWARD!!!
NO BETTER THAN BIN LADEN…
I´m amazed to hear that he has been to sea at all before, to get people to sacrifice their lives in some kind of game in his eyes make me want to puke. From the series shown, I´d promise that the people onboard do not know what they signed up for. Well I´ve heard people telling me that that is the conditions of the cause…..
Wait a little…
Doesen´t Al quida say the same, taking little care of the volentears?
Good going on catching scientific and making a big deal out of it….. But you put “Also, they killed and harvested whales right in front of them and them could do nothing to stop it.” Them and Them … what the hell and hell !!!!!!!!!!!!
Why did I read this, it was a waste of 4 minutes of my life!
Well thanks for pointing out a potential typo, but I’m Jamacian and that’s how I talk. Them can do it. Also, “dude” (if that is your real name) I don’t know what you mean by catching scientific. That’s just confusing to them. Sorry for wasting four minutes of them life. Them just fixed them typo too. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the follow-up Mike. It’s nice to see that even in this economy the Sea Shepards can afford to lose a 1.5 million dollar ship. Recession be damned!
they should have an SOP ( stranded operating procedure )for everything, they need to make one for COMMUNICATION! but for volunteers I’ve seen worse
Clint,
While I detest the Japanese whaling, I too believe that those onboard any of the Sea Shepherd ships are a statistic waiting to happen.
Paul Watson calls himself Captain and has been photographed in full dress uniform. In fact he is not and never has been a licensed Captain of any size boat from my research on the Net.
As you stated, the Steve Irwin is NOT ice rated at all. Any sane person would be crazy to take such a boat to Antarctica. There is a reason why there are several levels of ice ratings for ships.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_rating
Sadly, IMO it is only a matter of time before those onboard pay with their lives.
If you ask them today I am sure that each would say that they would be glad to give their lives to the defense of whales. I guess that would be true up to the point when they are bobbing in 28 degree F water for the few minutes until their death.
In watching the show, it really seems like they treat it more as an adventure than anything else. I really don’t think they realize how much danger they’re actually in. I honestly can’t believe someone hasn’t already been killed.
I have an idea, since you really don’t seem care about the environment or its effects on you. Why don’t you sit back watch some sports and go on a strict Tuna and Salmon only diet and write blogs pertaining to things that truly interest you, sports? There you can argue over spelling and grammar all you like, perhaps with a group of people equally disconnected from the planet you live on.
Though I disagree with the Sea Sheppard’s dysfunctional approach to end whaling at least they are doing something, if we all put in 1% of their effort whale hunting would be non-existent. Perhaps if you were to add something to this “War” you could implement your narcissistic, borderline personality with superior intellect and negotiate with the Japanese and every other country lacking ethics and morals.
Who said I don’t care about the environment? I certainly didn’t. I actually graduated with a major in Environmental Science and Technology. I currently work for the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. I work everyday trying to help remediate the Chesapeake Bay. Do you have advanced training in the environment? Do you work in the environmental field? Probably not. So really who is the one not caring about the environment?
Yes, I like to correct people’s spelling and grammar. It’s a pet peeve of mine. It makes the U.S. look pretty dumb when non-native speakers know our language better than we do. I respect people’s right to post comments on this blog. I reserve the right to disagree and correct their shitty grammar.
Also you may be right, if we put in 1% of their effort maybe we could stop whale hunting. What you have to understand is that maybe this isn’t everyone’s top priority. For me, I’m more concerned with other “wars.” The war on drugs, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the war my body has with lactose products.
Finally, I wouldn’t label the Japanese as lacking ethics and morals just because your ethics and morals are different than theirs, you ethnocentric hatemonger. Yeah, I can use big words as insults too.
oh really? i’m not the person you were chastizing but here goes my defense of myself and many like me.
when i found out that corporations were sending tracking devices with salmon that go downstream into the ocean because there’s no limit to oceanic salmon fishing but is a limit to river fishing. they tracked the salmon to the area that all salmon go, some kind of shoal. they fished out all salmon from that shoal and now there’s no more salmon at all in certain rivers and streams.
the moment i found out all that, i decided to stop eating salmon and salmon patties with a topping of creamed peas are my most favorite food. i gave up what i love the most and others haven’t. in fact, others think i’m sick in doing so. go after the people that eat and distribute the stuff and the problem will solve itself.
as far as tuna, i found out that tuna is NOT a problem as they don’t shoal like the salmon do. that and i found the secret of captive farming of tuna. IF they haven’t figured it out in 5 years how to keep the tuna alive, i’ll just have to figure out how to tell them and explain it to them.
why are you not the president.
you have all the answers right.
because some people go ahead and make things happens,
and some are walking after ,and telling the world what they really would do.
Sweet poem, punctuation, spacing and grammar.
Your command of the English language alone makes me shudder.
Actually, I was offered the Presidency. Turns out the schedule conflicts with my kickball league. My priorities are clear. We’ve got a chance to take the division this year. I can’t walk away from a commitment like that.
Clint,
I totally agree with you. I just watched season 1 and 2 in the last week and thought oh my god! Most of the tatics they use run from borderline piracy to blatant piracy. The lack of even BASIC seamanship by the command crew is scary. To even think to take a vessel with that hull rating into antartic sea conditions is sheer madness or gross negligence. Dont get me wrong, I detest whaling. I just dont understand why they think that tactis like that is going to help. The outcome is that they (Japaneese) get their “quota” and busniess as usual. Maybe its time for them to try other PRODUCTIVE mesures. On a side note I like your moxie. Speak your mind bro, and never let the HATERS get you down.
Thanks for your comment, and excellent use of the word moxie.
Just read your blog and found it to be right on the money. Personally I feel what these clowns are doing amounts to piracy. A MK 48 ADCAP torpedo under the hull would pretty much cure their idiocy, but that would be unethical. Fun to watch though.
Every pirate asshole on the irwin should be mutilated and destroyed. If the japs had any balls, they would have killed them all and sank their ship by now!
You’re all too personal! Get over it…. Live and let live…..
What are you doing to save or protect the Planet ? You may be right in your observations. But how about using your skills to get local governments etc along with global companies such as Wal-Mart to improve their attitude and management systems to protect and improve it. Just don’t sit on your f-t a–e and take the fun out of others, who are trying to something about it.
Ex- Navy and war veternan
What am I doing to protect the planet? You know how the Chesapeake Blue Crab is no longer endangered? Yeah, you’re welcome. What about my skills at ragging on a television show that I hate makes you think I can strike a deal between local governments and Wal-Mart? Or that I would even want to? I assume you were trying to say ‘fat arse.’ Such a fucking potty mouth. It’s my life, and I chose to sit on my perfectly sculpted ass and take the fun out of others. It’s how I get my jollies.
Thanks for your service. You spelled veteran wrong though.
The fact that you mock Steve Irwin, devalues this whole post.
the REAL steve irwin wouldn’t even have allowed this to happen at all. he wouldn’t put others in danger.
I completely support this article. Honestly, I cannot even fathom anyone supporting these criminals. I use the world criminals because that is what they are. They are basically modern day pirates (and bad pirates at that). Its pretty sad. I honestly think the only quality needed to run the Steve Irwin and crew on it is 1. A blind mentality, 2. spinless personality (how else could someone follow that captian), 3. zero IQ.
There are wonderful people working to right this problem but these people are not it. Please stop funding these people. It is wrong. Help the faceless people working to actually stop these killings. Help the people who actually feel like this is a problem. Not the idiots (Paul Watson) that all they want is to be stamped in time as someone who cares. He doesn’t. He wants to be famous. That is all. You should be ashamed of yourself as we are of you.
I want to know why they don’t simply install torpedo tubes along the ship and carry enough torpedos to sink the factory ship. tell them “cease and decist all whaling operations, dump all whale products into the ocean, and then head immediately to your home port or you will be sunk. you have 3 minutes to start”. when nothing happens in 3 minutes, sink the whole ship.
some folks claim things like human costs and innocent lives but if they were truely innocent then they wouldn’t be there in the first place.
as far as the ship that got destroyed, they were given a choice and the factory ship chose. the responsibility of the destroyed ship resides in the captain of said destroyed ship. NEVER board a ship that belongs to another country, use your own emergency escape boat instead. they were asked if they were willing to put their lives on the line to save a whale anyway weren’t they? and they get shocked when they do that and refuse to die and in the process of not dying and get taken captive?
why not send divers down with shape charges that bring down buildings and cut the propellers off? let the props fall to the ocean floor. use long poles to protect the divers. send divers down with square shape charges to cut huge door sized holes into the hulls of the factory ships.
if they sink a factory ship then that’s a show i refuse to miss. the japanese whaling fleet is the main reason the deep creatures such as giant squid and others are coming shallow and attacking regular people and ships.
Yeah go ahead dumb bell, install torpedo tubes on a ship and start a world war between two countries.
Btw Sea Shepherd doesn’t have any affiliations with the military and they are not authorized to use lethal force. So throwing non-harmful bottles of acid is would technically give people bruises and scratches on their body but it will never cause anyone to have a life threatening situation. (Unless one of the whalers are unlucky enough to get his head smashed by the bottle, I mean, he could buy a lottery with his luck)
the moment they board a ship makes them criminals and bad pirates instead of good natured people. it was the captain that forced his people into being pirates.
you know what i JUST noticed? the idiots don’t even have sea tables installed. a sea table will have a lip to prevent things from falling to the floor.
After reading your article man, I just find your whole story full of your own blurred vision of the whole idea and oh, the team as well.
Fun fact about Sea Shepherd for kids like you who doesn’t check their homework before submitting. Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organization and is mainly supported through crowd funding. Steve Irwin was their own ship at the time which they were able to afford as their previous flagship was flagged as a pirate and had the license removed.
So yeah, the Steve Irwin, I get it that you know he died because of doing what he loves doing, but actually he also loved to protect animals as well. And I believe the crew who went down to the southern ocean with Paul Watson wanted to achieve the same outcome of protecting a species.
By the way, The crew are volunteers and not fucking actors like Tom Cruise, they look young, that’s their problem, not yours. So yeah. They are all willing to create a huge spotlight on whaling and their way of doing it is through creating fear in their enemy.
Also, I think you are probably the most stubborn headed blogger I have ever seen in the world. Everyone knows that the captain made the wrong decision to sleep when they were loading the whales onboard and for fuck sake that was not a Hollywood movie. No one could have predicted the Japanese whalers to do that kind of thing at night. (Put yourself in his goddamn shoes and throw that stubborn brain of yours aside).
Also, since you mentioned it, their way of stopping whaling is indeed well, dangerous. But look at how different the world views Japan regarding this matter today. There’s a saying that goes “Violence is the only way to solve an issue” and well, I guess looking at how successful their campaign is, I think they have done what is right and to be honest if you look at the footages from Animal planet and Japanese Whaling fleet on the collisions in the southern ocean. You can see the ships literally (I mean literally) ramming into one another. Both sides ain’t budging until one sinks (that’s their idea in that desperate situation).
I mean I scrolled through some of the comments section below and Gilo, well besides the fact that you wasted my time reading your childish article. I guess the real issue why whaling hasn’t stop is because of YOU.
Why?
Because, you people think your government cares about the planet and ohh what a wonderful ending lalala. Fun fact, no one agrees to share this planet equally and needless to say. Your government, if it wasn’t the pressure from the footages that Sea Shepherd released, wouldn’t have even been bothered to deal with the Japanese.
I find it humourous that you talk like a adult but in the end the story is written like a child’s dreams that can never happen. Fun fact, maybe you should go and get a good education and then proceed back to the internet because people like you who thinks the world is United now.
You guys watch, humanity is crumbling and another world war is just about to begin in 2019