#1917
WHALE WARS
DiveGirl55 - 12/03/2008 1:56 PM
Category: General
Replies: 11



Okay, I was reading MARTI’s comment on crying when she sees sealife commercials and being a "weenie" (her choice of meats, not mine!) ( I guess I would be a Tofu dog, then)!


But I CANNOT watch WHALE WARS without soaking the couch (be clean boys!), it is awful and beautiful what they are doing! Anyone else watch that show?
#8046
Rich-D-Fish - 12/03/2008 6:57 PM


I’ve only watched the first couple episodes so far, and those guys are amazing. They are risking their lives and it seems like no one is supporting their cause. I can’t get over how badly the Greenpeace folks treat them when they ask for a little assistance toward "the same" result. Of course, their more extreme tactics risk being lumped in with McCain and Palin as "Maverick" But it makes for better TV :-)
#51828
Greg - 12/04/2008 10:28 PM
I watch the show and I love it. I thought you could do anything in international waters...maybe the area they are in is controlled by a certain country. But in international waters, should you be able to do whatever you want? If so, can a pirate ship just completely destroy a whaling ship without any legal issues?
#3673
Bigdogdown - 12/05/2008 2:05 PM
I’ve watched the show and I truly support them. I think the process of whaling is barbaric and quite frankly useless in today’s world. That being said though, I think that if I was on that boat with them, having been in the Navy for 5 years, I would shoot their captain myself. He has the will, and what he’s doing is right I think, but he is a terrible captain. Abborrant seamanship, asking people to put their lives on the line and then not even having the common decency to reward them personally or even greet them when they came back on board. Just rude, and utterly disrespectful towards people who are putting so much on the line.
#1639
SeaGoat - 12/06/2008 9:22 PM
Yep. I agree with Bigdogdown on this one. I am very much against whaling but the captain turned me off to the show especially when he talked two of the guys into boarding the ship (really dumb!!!) I’ve been hoping for a mutiny ever since that episode.
#25
permit - 12/07/2008 5:53 PM


Read Peter Heller’s book, "Whale Warriors". I just finished it, and while parts of it are staggeringly tragic and graphic, it is a really balanced, factual account of what goes on with Sea Shepherd.
#25
permit - 12/12/2008 3:30 PM
You are right. Sea Shepherd and its captain are the same ones that the Sharkwater documentary is about. The guy who produced the movie came here to Fort Lauderdale to promote it and gave quite an interesting talk about gunfire and pursuit on the high seas. 
#506
steelheadfish - 12/15/2008 2:22 PM
I have donated money to the sea shepard soc. when the maka indian tribe murdered the first whale in 2000 (i think maybe 01), they always needed money for fuel food ect. I think it is great they have the nads to board vessels and cut communication links with the other japanese vessels. Although today so many people are just so passive, it is nice to see the crew get it done!
#805
ee4uandme - 12/16/2008 2:48 PM


I’m all for saving and protecting the whales and the environment in general. One episode of Whale Wars has two of its members illegally board another ship and the activists are detained, then the Sea Sheppard spins it is as a kidnapping. If you board someone else’s ship at sea it should be treated as an act of terrorism and those guys are lucky they weren’t shot on sight. More evidence as to why you have to question everything that you read in the papers or see on the news. Fight for your cause but just be honest.
#3595
okmister1 - 12/16/2008 4:54 PM


I haven’t seen Whale Wars but I did see this group on the DVD documentary Sharkwater. Basically these guys are vigilantes and I don’t know how far I’d support them.


Boarding someone elses ship at sea and attacking it would also be considered piracy and the laws on that subject are fairly severe if rarely enforced anymore.
#3595
okmister1 - 12/16/2008 5:28 PM


In the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, "maritime piracy" consists of:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State; (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft; (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) defines piracy as:
the act of boarding any vessel with an intent to commit theft or any other crime, and with an intent or capacity to use force in furtherance of that act