Crusaders of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in ‘Whale Wars’

 

Captain Paul Watson founded his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1977 because he believed his new organization had to go even further to eradicate whaling, poaching, shark finning, habitat destruction and purported ocean law violations than the Greenpeace group he had co-founded.

For several years, Watson’s group of staff and volunteers have engaged in a campaign every winter to find and stop Japanese ships that hunt whales in the name of research, attempting to stop them by any non-violent means necessary. The eclectic group – sometimes labeled as activists, heroes and/or eco-pirates – leave port in Melbourne, Australia for a two month campaign that is dangerous, controversial and has garnered international media attention. Sea Shepherd’s dedicated, international crew have spent their holiday the last several years and risked their lives to save whales.

Discovery’s weekly series, Whale Wars, premiering Thursday, April 2 at 9 PM ET, will showcase the harrowing 2007-2008 season, bringing the intensity of Sea Shepherd’s mission and the trials and tribulations of the crew to life. The series draws attention to this global conservation issue that has caused friction between several nations over the practice of whaling in oceanic territories. This year’s campaign was particularly eventful with multiple engagements, capsizing, possible hostage-taking and alleged shooting, while production crews remained onboard to document it as it unfolded.

Highlighting both the controversial whaling trade and the tactics that Sea Shepherd and its staff and volunteers use to attempt to cripple it, the series documents the group’s three-month sojourn across the icy Antarctic waters at the far end of the globe. The Society’s fight to eradicate Japanese whaling on the high seas – where international laws are interpreted by different countries and organizations in different ways – utilizes some aggressive techniques, including ramming and disabling whaling ships; disrupting whale carcass processing; engaging in physical entanglement; and boarding and dispersing fleets of whaling vessels. For the campaign this season, Sea Shepherd christened its vessel in honor of the iconic conservationist Steve Irwin with the blessing of his wife Terri, both of whom support the organization.

For more information on the series, visit http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/.