Whale Wars

Some Figures monstrous and mis-shap'd appear, Consider'd singly, or beheld too near, Which, but proportion'd to their Light, or Place, Due Distance reconciles to Form and Grace. - Alexander Pope

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, so go ahead and call the crew of the Sea Shepard fools if it makes you feel superior. Make jokes about what you would do if you were a whale, but you should know something about this series called Whale Wars.

It is unusual, and it is raw. If you have not seen it, it is something different than shows like Deadliest Catch. It puts us on the scene of a confrontation between two philosophies.

Maybe some things look deformed and clumsy when viewed up close, but with a proper distance their form is something of grace and beauty

For what it's worth, my view of the world has grown into something cynical, and I find this program truly compelling.

Separating politics from the show is a critical first step to deciding whether this show is watchable or not. Whether you want to slaughter every living thing on the planet and eat it, or whether you don't think humans should kill anything and absorb our nutrition out of the air is irrelevant to the quality...

That being said...

Does the show entertain: yes. God knows each time those guys and gals do something you are just waiting for one of them to screw up. These people are not professionals and their lack of training is beyond apparent. Also you have the disconnection between the captain and reality. Everything that happens (including every misstep) is spun into a positive happy message... and the show allows the knife of the camera to cut right through the bull. At the same time you also get to see the world from THEIR perspective.

The show is NOT about whaling... the show is about these guys and gals behavior in an very strange situation. THAT is what documentaries are about... and this show is done well....

Love this show, it highlights the completely unnecessary whaling that is still going on today. Yes they don't always get the best crew but what can you expect when all they can afford is volunteers. Paul and his regular crew are brilliant at what they do. The show is fairly well made and does its job of informing people what is still happening. The crew are very brave and thrown into a world they think they understand but soon learn just how difficult and dangerous it is.

Those people who have reviewed and said this is a comedy and rubbish and clearly clueless. The Sea Shephards do an amazing job and even if they cannot stop the Japanese Whaling Fleet they can certainly hinder how much of their quota they can actually catch, allowing the whales time to recover. Whaling is disgusting and so outdated now its about time it was made fully illegal and these whalers learnt that there is no need for it anymore today. Well done Sea Shephards for actually doing something! I only wish I was out there with you!

Whale Wars is an OK introduction to the Sea Shepard conversation organization, but follows PC sensationalism in exclusively keying in on human stories, and therefore misses on the real story that Sea Shepard is about: the whales!! There is essentially nothing about what whales are about, how humans have terrorized and murdered these creatures for centuries, how terribly whales die by harpoons and other torture devices utilized by modern whaling ships, how little we know about whales' consciousness and social behavior, how much we do know about them. Without any providing emphasis about the most justifiable reasons for not murdering whales, the series misses out on the main points that should be made in support of Sea Shepard. Even so, this series provide a good introduction to the organization, and should help with awareness and fund raising. Paul Watson obviously approves, but one has to suppose for pragmatic reasons.

This show is surprisingly enjoyable when viewed as a comedy. If taken seriously this show is quite bad. Make sure you watch it with friends so you can laugh together at hilarious failure upon failure. Find that character that you love to hate. Crazy environmentalists wage a "war" trying to stop Japanese whaling in the Antarctic, but they are startlingly ineffective. Watching the clueless Sea Shepherd try to outmaneuver whalers with limited resources and poor tactics creates a truly fascinating television series. Brainless ideas are abundant and mistakes are guaranteed to be repeated twice. How many millions of dollars in donations are these clowns going to waste while they try to figure out the secret of saving a whale?