'Whale Wars' is back and so is controversial Capt. Paul Watson
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/06/whale-wars-is-back-and-so-is-controversial-...
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- jefftego
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Capt. Paul Watson, whose Sea Shepherd Society has drawn praise and harsh criticism for its sometimes confrontational encounters with Japanese whalers, says of the second season of the Animal Planet series, "Whale Wars," which debuts tonight at 9 p.m.: "It ought to be 10 times more dramatic and exciting than last year."
That's because last year's shows, which were based on the 2007-08 exploits of Watson and crew, contained very little drama and excitement. This year it'll be different because Watson's 2008-09 campaign against whalers in the Antarctic included numerous confrontations -- including three collisions and a very dramatic pursuit through ice -- with Japanese crews that regard Sea Shepherd as a terrorist group.
"They were very aggressive toward us -- the most aggressive I've ever seen them -- so it's a far more dramatic season for that reason," Watson said in an interview this week.
Sea Shepherd's tactics are to disrupt the months-long hunt and any efforts by whalers to transfer harpooned whales onto the processing ship.
During the 2008-09 hunt (summer in the Antarctic), Japan fell 305 minke whales short of its quota, so Sea Shepherd is taking credit for saving those whales. The whalers killed only one fin whale, so Sea Shepherd is saying it saved 49 fin whales.
"We saved 500 whales the year before, 500 whales the year before that and 83 whales the year before that," Watson boasted.
Japan, which requires a high quota to profit from these hunts, has fallen short in recent years but remains steadfast and some believe it will announce, later this month, its intention to add endangered humpback whales to its quota list.
That's because last year's shows, which were based on the 2007-08 exploits of Watson and crew, contained very little drama and excitement. This year it'll be different because Watson's 2008-09 campaign against whalers in the Antarctic included numerous confrontations -- including three collisions and a very dramatic pursuit through ice -- with Japanese crews that regard Sea Shepherd as a terrorist group.
"They were very aggressive toward us -- the most aggressive I've ever seen them -- so it's a far more dramatic season for that reason," Watson said in an interview this week.
Sea Shepherd's tactics are to disrupt the months-long hunt and any efforts by whalers to transfer harpooned whales onto the processing ship.
During the 2008-09 hunt (summer in the Antarctic), Japan fell 305 minke whales short of its quota, so Sea Shepherd is taking credit for saving those whales. The whalers killed only one fin whale, so Sea Shepherd is saying it saved 49 fin whales.
"We saved 500 whales the year before, 500 whales the year before that and 83 whales the year before that," Watson boasted.
Japan, which requires a high quota to profit from these hunts, has fallen short in recent years but remains steadfast and some believe it will announce, later this month, its intention to add endangered humpback whales to its quota list.
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- Green, Whales, Marine Mammals, Sea Shepherd, 3 more
