Whale Wars begins filming next season amid controversy
December 20th, 2008 by cdunaganFilming of the second season of “Whale Wars” is under way, and today Paul Watson, leader of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, claimed to have the Japanese whaling fleet on the run.
I’d like to ask a question of all you readers of Water Ways. Would you like me to provide occasional updates on Sea Shepherd’s controversial tactics, or do believe it is wrong to give this organization the extensive publicity it is already receiving?
I’m open to arguments on both sides.
Meanwhile, let me tell you what has been happening with Sea Shepherd and its television series “Whale Wars,” which completed its first season on Animal Planet this week and is going into reruns.
A news release issued today quotes Watson:
“It does not get more real than this. While people are sitting in their living rooms watching our campaign against the whalers that took place last season, we are at the same time in the icy hostile seas of Antarctica engaged with the whalers this season. There is an Animal Planet crew on board and the cameras are rolling for season two of Whale Wars.”
Yesterday, Watson reported that Sea Shepherd’s boat, the Steve Irwin, caught up with the harpoon ship Yushin Maru #2. The small Delta boat was launched with the idea of pelting the ship with stinky butter bombs, but it had to be called back because of high winds and rough sea conditions.
Watch the video by Sea Shepherd.
The Yushin Marin #2 was a ship that members of Sea Shepherd boarded last year, one of the dramatic moments in Season One of “Whale Wars.” Because of that controversial action and other life-risking incidents, the series quickly picked up an audience and was a big winner for Animal Planet, according to Variety magazine, which reports on show business.
This year the Japanese ship reportedly has installed a net over its side to prevent any further boardings.
Meanwhile, producers of the program have invited Japanese officials to participate in the second season, perhaps to offer a more balanced view of events.
As you may have heard, actress Daryl Hannah has joined the crew for this year’s campaign in the Antarctic. Hannah, best known for her mermaid role in the movie “Splash,” is a longtime supporter of environmental causes. She has been forcibly removed from more than one protest demonstration, and she runs a personal Web site that covers a lot of environmental issues. I wonder what her presence will add to the show.
It seems Sea Shepherd is getting wrapped up in show business as well as continuing controversy and criticism — including Watson’s claim of being shot against denials by the Japanese. Watson apparently believes all the publicity will help stop the whaling, and now he’s getting more attention than anytime in the last 30 years.
I don’t know where things will go from here, but I can’t help but watch.
Tags: Japanese whaling, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, whaling
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
December 21st, 2008 at 12:41 am
These people are eco-terrorists, nothing more. They wouldn’t make a series glorifying ELF burning developments and SUV dealerships, they shouldn’t make a series detailing these crimes on the high seas.
December 21st, 2008 at 4:32 am
They are thrill seekers under the guise of “saving the whales” from the awful foreign whalers.
Animal Planet is a tv show showing, for the most part, interesting programs but they are in business to make money.
“Whale Wars” isn’t about saving whales, it is about exploiting themselves and having an adventure.
If these people were really interested in ‘saving the whales’ they would start in their own waterways, cleaning it up rather than the filmed dramatic episodes against the Japanese who have been whaling for centuries.
“The oldest written mention of whaling in Japanese records is from Kojiki, the oldest extant Japanese book, which was written in the eighth century”
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_Japanese_whaling_start
Native American tribe/s have legal permission to hunt the whale because of their ‘culture’ and that seems to be okay with this group.
Well…the Japanese have and are hunting whales according to their earliest written book showing mention of whales…that also is called culture and their heritage.
These people should be ignored…in my opinion.
Sharon O’Hara
December 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I resisted watching for a while but then found it difficult not to watch the series. It is a dilemma, as I wouldn’t want this group to be seen as representing environmental views -they are clearly extremists. I can’t help but marvel at the way that the same set of events can be viewed differently, e.g. jumping aboard a ship at sea & then claiming that they were taken hostage?? Fortunately, the group seems relatively incompetent & that makes for great entertainment value. I can’t help but wonder if Steve Irwin would be mortified to find his name on a ship of eco-extremists. Too bad that the work of solid environmental organizations in meetings, negotiations, outreach would be rather boring to cover, as that is much more fruitful overall & more representative of environmental groups.
December 21st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Trouble is the in your face groups capture the imagination and offer excitement to the folks who want to do the right thing but don’t understand that groups such as these thrill seekers cause more harm among people and countries than the supposed ‘good’ they claim to be doing.
We are considered the ugly Americans in other countries thanks to American folks like these whose extreamist actions indicate their actions represent all Americans. They are representing Americans to the world. They tar all of us to the world of ‘average’ people.
I am not entertained… but maybe I’ll laugh after I read the zebra book.