| Revision as of 00:53, 15 June 2009 editTerrillja (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers18,945 edits →Shooting controversy: rm text sourced to forum post, there is no way to know what qualifications someone does or doesn't have based on a forum← Previous edit | Revision as of 02:57, 15 June 2009 edit undoPrBeacon (talk | contribs)3,108 edits providing counterpoint to "in the name of research"Next edit → | ||
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| | url = http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/about/ | | url = http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/about/ | ||
| | accessdate = 4 November 2008 | | accessdate = 4 November 2008 | ||
| }}</ref> However, "Australia and other critics dismiss the Japanese programme as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned."<ref name="Australia and others">{{cite web | |||
| | title = Australia condemns bloody killing of whale and calf by Japanese fleet | |||
| | publisher = Times Newspapers Ltd. | |||
| | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3325580.ece | |||
| | accessdate = 8 February 2008 | |||
| }}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
| ==Featured cast== | ==Featured cast== | ||
Revision as of 02:57, 15 June 2009
2008 TV series or program| Whale Wars | |
|---|---|
| File:Whale Wars2.jpgDVD cover art of Whale Wars. | |
| Genre | Reality / Documentary |
| Starring | Paul Watson |
| Theme music composer | Billy Corgan |
| Opening theme | "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Elizabeth Bronstein Dee Bagwell Haslam |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production company | RIVR Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | Animal Planet |
| Release | November 7, 2008 (2008-11-07) – Present |
Whale Wars is a one-hour weekly American reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on Animal Planet. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard the MV Steve Irwin attempt to deter Japanese ships that hunt minke and fin whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the name of research. However, "Australia and other critics dismiss the Japanese programme as a disguise for commercial whaling, which is banned."
Featured cast
The featured cast is mostly made up of officers and crew of the Sea Shepherd ship the MV Steve Irwin from the 2007/08 campaign in the Antarctic.
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Watson | Captain | Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and co-founder of Greenpeace. |
| Peter Brown | Officer - First Mate | Involved with Sea Shepherd since 1982. |
| Peter Hammarstedt | Officer - Second Mate | |
| Benjamin "Pottsy" Potts | Chief Cook, Helicopter Assistant | One of the two crewmembers who boarded a Japanese whaling vessel as part of an attempt to deliver a letter. |
| Dr. Scott Bell | Doctor | Treated two severe injuries. |
| Chris Aultman | Recon Helicopter Pilot | Left the mission before the second leg of the operation due to helicopter corrosion. |
| Giles Lane | Crewmember who accompanied Pottsy in boarding the Yushin Maru № 2 to deliver a letter. |
Season synopsis
Animal Planet disclaimer
At the beginning of each episode and at times after breaks during the show, the following disclaimer from Animal Planet is displayed on screen to viewers:
The following program contains commentary and opinions that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Animal Planet.
Season 1
Season 1 consisted of 7 episodes and aired from November 7, 2008 to December 19, 2008. Each episode premiered on Fridays at 9 PM E/P on Animal Planet. Much of the action depicted in this season occurred between January and March 2008. Season One is now available on DVD. In one commercial advertisement announcing the season premiere of the series on November 7 on Animal Planet, Sea Shepherd members on the shore of a beach parody the style of the 2008 presidential candidates' campaign ads, including the line: "I'm Paul Watson, and I approve this message."
The first season of Whale Wars was the most watched program ever for Animal Planet, capturing more than one million viewers for its season finale.
The first season also received the Television Academy Honors award. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences created the Television Academy Honors in 2008 to recognize “Television with a Conscience” — achievements in programming that present issues of concern to our society in a compelling, emotional and insightful way.
| Episode # | Episode Title | Original U.S. Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Needle in a Haystack" | November 7, 2008 | |
| Paul Watson is allegedly shot by the Japanese whaling crew during a confrontation between the whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru and the Sea Shepherd vessel MV Steve Irwin. The episode then flashes back to the maiden launching and departure of the vessel from homeport three months earlier. | |||
| 2 | "Nothing's Ideal" | November 14, 2008 | |
| Giles Lane and Benjamin "Pottsy" Potts volunteer to board the Japanese whale catcher Yushin Maru № 2 without permission and were detained on the ship by the whaling crew. The incident received immediate attention from the international media. The MV Steve Irwin radios the Australian Federal Police under a charge of kidnapping. | |||
| 3 | "International Incidents R Us" | November 21, 2008 | |
| Without negotiation and confrontation with the MV Steve Irwin, the Yushin Maru № 2 agreed to transfer Pottsy and Giles to a government ship that would then meet with the Steve Irwin at a rendezvous point to return the two members. 1st Mate Peter Brown decides to launch an attack on the Yushin Maru № 2 at dusk. Four crewmembers are sent on the Zodiac inflatable boat Delta to carry out the risky mission. After losing radio contact with them, recon pilot Chris Aultman, who was sent too late to survey the situation, reports that they are heading in the wrong direction and must return as night falls. The lone Delta was feared to be forever lost out in the middle of the dark, frigid, vast Antarctic Ocean. Fortunately, contact was finally made with the Delta, which eventually returns to the MV Steve Irwin over two hours later and behind schedule to retrieve Pottsy and Giles. | |||
| 4 | "We Are Hooligans" | November 28, 2008 | |
| Giles Lane and Ben Potts safely return to the MV Steve Irwin. The crew then discovers that an unknown ship, allegedly spying for the Japanese whaling fleet, has been following them, decides to recon it from behind a tabletop iceberg for any military personnel aboard, and temporarily drives it away after seeing no sign of illegal military activity. The crew later plans to ambush the mystery ship, soon identified as the Fukuyoshi № 68, to prevent information about the Steve Irwin's whereabouts from being given to the rest of the whaling fleet. They plan to do this by boarding the vessel and sabotaging its communication equipment, shutting off any communication with anyone. Before the mission, a hydraulic crane used to launch the motor rafts somehow got damaged, jeopardizing the Sea Shepherd's mission. | |||
| 5 | "Doors Slamming and Things Breaking" | December 5, 2008 | |
| The MV Steve Irwin experiences several technical difficulties, including a damaged engine, hydraulic crane, and helicopter. Running on only one engine, the ship must return to port at Melbourne, Australia to make repairs while the whaling continues. Some crewmembers decide to party and leave the operation. Upon arrival, they were welcomely greeted and cheered by the citizens, and by the police. Pottsy and Giles become instant celebrities on homecoming. After recruiting new members, the crew travels without its recon chopper and returns to the Southern Ocean only to find that the suspicious ship is still following them. | |||
| 6 | "Ladies First" | December 12, 2008 | |
| After noticing that the suspicious ship Fukuyoshi Maru № 68 has found and followed the MV Steve Irwin again, Watson unsuccessfully attempts to send four female crewmembers to board the vessel to deliver a warrant. This leads to a man's injured thumb and a woman's injured pelvis (Incidents not related). The Steve Irwin detects the Nisshin Maru on radar. At dusk, the entire ship experiences a power outage, leaving it drifting through an iceberg field without operating engines. | |||
| 7 | "Boiling Point" | December 19, 2008 | |
| After power was restored to part of the ship, the MV Steve Irwin finally finds, follows, and comes face to face two times with the Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru, which Watson considers the "most evil" vessel in international waters. A pod of whales swims between the two "warring" ships, which eventually engage in a ship-to-ship "battle." The captain of the Nisshin Maru warned on a recorded message sent multiple times through a horn that "If you dare board this vessel, you will be taken into custody." Recruited Sea Shepherds are the first to strike, throwing stink bombs with Butyric acid onto the decks of the Nisshin Maru, which dwarfed the Steve Irwin in size, while its crew watches and films the Steve Irwin. The Japanese whalers claim that three of their crewmembers were injured by the stink bombs. When the two ships meet the second time, the Steve Irwin crew strikes first again while the Nisshin Maru crew, in return, threatens to use tear gas grenades and throws flash bombs. Watson fishes a metallic fragment from his vest and claims to have been shot. As Watson concluded that the second leg of the mission was successful, the Sea Shepherds claimed that they have saved about 500 whales. The Steve Irwin returns to Melbourne again before running out of fuel. | |||
Season 2
The second season of Whale Wars premiered in North America on Animal Planet on June 5, it is set to premiere in Canada on June 10. Dates are yet to be announced for the release overseas. The season was filmed between December 2008 and February 2009. A commercial advert for Season 2 appears to show the MV Steve Irwin ramming the Yushin Maru 3, a tactic known to have been used by Captain Watson in the past.
Critical reception
Among adults aged 25-54, the series scored the highest viewer ratings in Animal Planet's history.
Review aggregation site MetaCritic has scored Whale Wars 71 out of 100 based on 6 reviews.
Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times wrote:
Whale Wars splashes across the increasingly exhausted genre of people-at-work reality series like icy seawater, jolting you awake with a frothy, briny burst of— well, you get the idea. This is one spunky show.
Nancy Dewolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal wrote:
What is shocking at first is how unprepared most of these people are for their self-appointed mission as planet savers. Although the word “deadly” is used often to underscore the risks the crew face, alone out in the wild Antarctic seas – their own incompetence can seem the most frightening.
Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times wrote:
What makes Whale Wars different from a normal extreme career path-type show, is of course, the cause it is promoting. But more interesting is that murmuring beneath all the action is that age-old philosophic question: How far is too far in an undeniably just cause?
David Hinckley of the New York Daily News wrote:
Because the cameras obviously operate from the conservation ship – named the Sea Shepherd and, for this voyage, also called the Steve Irwin – we get all the drama on this side and virtually none on the other.
Criticism
The TV-series has been criticised for its presentation of physical intervention with the operations of another ship. Some viewers claim that these kind of actions are not only illegal, but lives could be lost if one of the ships sinks. The show has also been criticized by other sailors for what they consider to be lack of seamanship by the crew and lack of leadership of its captain, who they believe puts the crew's life at risk. Some viewers also feel that the show's presentation of the Japanese fishermen is too one-sided and racist.
Shooting controversy
Further information: Paul Watson § Alleged shooting, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society § Operation MigalooPaul Watson alleges he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the campaign. The incident is heavily documented during the show in the final episode, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign.
The footage in Whale Wars shows Watson standing on the deck of the Steve Irwin while Sea Shepherd crew throws stink bombs made of glass bottles filled with butyric acid at the Nisshin Maru whaling vessel. The Japanese respond by throwing flashbang devices. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and bullet-proof vest and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest.
Reuters reported that the Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned the incident and that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" during the confrontation. The BBC reported that the Japanese used the term "warning devices" and denied any shots were fired. The Japanese later claimed that Watson staged the incident in an attempt to win public and government sympathy and approval for the Sea Shepherd campaign. Watson then attempted to refute these claims on the Sea Shepherd website.
Skeptics claim that Watson was not shot, but that "he faked it so he could garner media attention and claim the Japanese tried to kill him" .
See also
- Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
- Whaling in Japan
- MV Steve Irwin
- Nisshin Maru
- Yushin Maru № 2
- Operation Migaloo
- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
- Greenpeace
References
- "Whale Wars: About the Series". Animal Planet. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- "Australia condemns bloody killing of whale and calf by Japanese fleet". Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
- "Whale Wars DVD Set". Discovery Channel Store. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "The Television Academy Honors". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Reynolds, Mike (23 December 2008). "Animal Planet Show Has Whale Of A Season". Multichannel News. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "Whale Wars - Reviews from Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- Genzlinger, Neil (9 November 2008), "Television Review: 'Whale Wars' – Hunting the People Who Hunt the Whales", The New York Times
- Dewolf Smith, Nancy (7 November 2008), "Television – Surprising Adventures", The Wall Street Journal
- McNamara, Mary (7 November 2008), "Television Review – 'Whale Wars' on Animal Planet", Los Angeles Times
- Hinckley, David (6 November 2008), "Television Review – 'Whale Wars' reality show gets a sea-plus", NY Daily News
- "Inept Captain and First Mate". Discovery Communications. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
- "I Wasn't Ready to Drown, So I Prepared to Abandon Ship". Huffington Post. 5 june 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "This show really comes off racist". Discovery Communications. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
- Shears, Richard (3 March 2008). "Antarctic whale war continues as protesters bombard harpoon ship with 'stink bombs'". Daily Mail.
- ^ "Protester says whalers shot him". BBC News. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- "Anti-whaler says he was shot in Japanese clash". Reuters. 7 March 2009.
- Watson, Paul (6 November 2008). "Whalers Fearful of Television Spot Lighting Their Crimes". Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- "This show really comes off racist". 6 November 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
External links
| Whaling | |
|---|---|
| History of whaling | |
| By country | |
| Harpoons | |
| Hunting type | |
| Implements | |
| Products | |
| Regulations | |
| Sanctuaries | |