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May 27, 2012

DVR Divas: Fighting 'Whale Wars' on the High Seas

by Kelly Woo, posted Jun 4th 2010 5:50PM

Whale WarsWhile you were chowing down on turkey on Thanksgiving Day or toasting with champagne this past New Year's Eve, Captain Chuck Swift and Peter Hammerstedt were chasing down whaling ships in frigid Antarctic waters.

They're part of a group called the Sea Shepherds, a marine conservation society, and their battles against whalers are documented on Animal Planet's hit series, 'Whale Wars.'

Season 3 begins tonight at 9PM ET, and Swift and Hammerstedt stopped by our studio to chat with myself and fellow TV Squad editor Patricia Chui about what to expect (lots more danger), the operation's new ship (named for a generous game show host) and how they got involved with Sea Shepherds.




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highlandMg

why won't the Japan stop lying and say they are hunting for food. Maybe will they kill off all the whales the world will wake up. Save the whales go sea shepard

August 01 2010 at 4:13 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeff

I believe the Sea Shepards to be terrorists and should be treated as such by the Australian government. I am doing whatever I can do to promote anti-Sea Shepard groups within my circle of friends. The Sea Shepards continually escalate the violence on the open seas. When I catch an episode of Whale Wars, I cheer on the Japanese Whaling Fleet. Why do they only target the Japanese, not Norway or Iceland? I believe it is because they won't go after other Anglo's.

June 05 2010 at 9:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jeff's comment
Christopher

I think they're a lot more like vigilantes than terrorists seeing as how the whalers are also not following the law.
And they have gone after other countries' whaling activities in the past. They have not done so on the show however.

June 07 2010 at 10:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

My foundation has stopped supporting Animal Planet due to this show. They proudly display a pirate flag when operatingk, have rammed a ship at sea, boarded another and think little of endangering humans while doing what they see as protecting animals. If a ship being boarded or rammed shot at them, it would seem to me to be a legitimate response in an era where real pirates are overtaking ships.
Animal Planet runs a disclaimer about them at the start of each show as a means of separating their acts from the network. I am encouraging my allies in philanthropic funding to also boycott any show on Animal Planet as long as the network runs this misguided mania under cover of helping whales. There is a reason the founder of this group was expunged from Greenpeace, a worthy recipient of donations.

June 04 2010 at 7:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Mike's comment
Colin

I am afraid you are incorrect; I live in Australia where this group is in the media regularly. If you had seen the video it would be very clear to you that the Japanese Whaling ship rammed the protesters not the other way around. As for the boarding incident, it was one man and he simply did so to try and place the captain under citizen's arrest. These people may not be angels, but faced with what the Japanese sailors throw at them (e.g. Water cannons etc) I do not blame them for many of their actions.

June 05 2010 at 1:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
molly

The pirate flag is an effective means. They get the attention necessary.
If you would watch the episodes rather than boycotting them, you would see that the Japanese whalers engage in much more violent tactics than the Sea Shepherds. They have LRADs; if you don't already know, LRADs are used to incapacitate individuals and can knock them to the ground -- and the Japanese use this against the helicopter pilot and the crew members aboard their inflatable boats which could very well cause them to crash. The Japanese whalers have thrown metal bolts and other small items at the Sea Shepherds, doused them with immensely powerful water cannons, and when Bethune boarded a Japanese ship you can watch the men get physical with him. In the premier episode of this 3rd season, it ended with the Japanese whalers deliberately attempting to ruin the Sea Shepherds landed helicopter with water cannons. Even in The Cove, you can clearly notice the aggressive and violent behaviors in many of the fishermen and whalers.
The Sea Shepherd conveys the message of aggressive and effective tactics, but genuinely attempt to avoid anyone getting hurt.
Stop accusing people of things you hardly know about. While the show might be bias and propaganda, there is no way you can artificially create that kind of raw action and indisputable fight against the inhumane slaughtering of whales.

June 09 2010 at 3:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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