Whale Wars / Sea Shepherd on Animal Planet

[synapsetx]

WTFBBQ!!

Whale Wars on Animal Planet

I've heard of EcoTerrorists before, radical environmentalists, and I just am watching this show and am utterly dumbfounded. I am really not sure whether to admire their conviction, willingness to act, and put the screws to some folks who are clearly playing loose with the laws to make some serious cash. The Japanese "research" vessels are just about as laughable as the links to BitTorrent being "for educational purposes only".

However, the founder and captain-nutcase in chief seems to have a serious lack of consideration for human life and suffering. He's eagerly willing to sacrifice people for the sake of these whales. I swear he'd plunge a dagger into one of the crew's hearts if he thought it'd save a whale or two.

Anyone else seen this or have any thoughts? What are the international laws involved? Is anyone else than the Japanese doing this "research"?

 

[ProfJohn]

I got the chance to see some whales up close in Hawaii. What amazing creatures.

It is sad that we can't put enough pressure on Japan to get them to stop the whale harvest.

At the same time the people on these boats are idiots.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I've been watching it and admire their willingness to sacrifice their very lives to stop the Japanese whale hunts.

What do you mean by their 'serious lack of consideration for human life and suffering'? They are not shooting guns or attempt to hurt any of the whale hunters. He's not sacrificing anybody's life either. All of the volunteers know what they are getting into and willing to make the commitment and possible sacrifice.

 

[synapsetx]

1) Being willing to put people in massive danger of freezing to death, with a rookie crew, and EAGER to have them held hostage is NOT responsible adult behavior.
2) They are very cavalier about the potential effects of their ship disabling weapons, not seeming to care if the crew would be safe or not.

No, they're not shooting guns - but they are deliberately prodding a bear, hitting the proverbial bees nest BEGGING for a lethal level of retaliation to win a media war and change public opinion. Greenpeace, in an effectively unanimous vote, kicked the captain out because he was such an extremist.

As noted - I am torn between the respect for these kids for being 110% engaged and having the absolute courage of conviction - but I fear they are being led into the abyss by a madman with no moral compass.

 

[BoomerD]

I'd like to see ALL whaling stopped on the planet. I doubt it will happen in my lifetime nor in the lifetime of my kids however. Places like Japan, Norway, Russia, and the Eskimo tribes all claim cultural rights to hunt the great beasts of the sea. We have at least one Norwegian member on these forums who espouses his right to eat whale and thinks the rest of the world should stay out of their business.

I agree that the captain seems less concerned about the lives of his crew than of his...reputation?...legacy?...personal fame?

I'm sure they're all pretty dammed dedicated "whale-savers," but he seems a bit over the top.

 

[synapsetx]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
I agree that the captain seems less concerned about the lives of his crew than of his...reputation?...legacy?...personal fame?.

I think you hit it - I think he wants be a martyr for the cause. Provoke a lethal level of reaction, and die for "the cause".

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: synapsetx
1) Being willing to put people in massive danger of freezing to death, with a rookie crew, and EAGER to have them held hostage is NOT responsible adult behavior.
2) They are very cavalier about the potential effects of their ship disabling weapons, not seeming to care if the crew would be safe or not.

No, they're not shooting guns - but they are deliberately prodding a bear, hitting the proverbial bees nest BEGGING for a lethal level of retaliation to win a media war and change public opinion. Greenpeace, in an effectively unanimous vote, kicked the captain out because he was such an extremist.

As noted - I am torn between the respect for these kids for being 110% engaged and having the absolute courage of conviction - but I fear they are being led into the abyss by a madman with no moral compass.

Hunting Animals to extinction is not responsible behaviour.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: synapsetx
1) Being willing to put people in massive danger of freezing to death, with a rookie crew, and EAGER to have them held hostage is NOT responsible adult behavior.
2) They are very cavalier about the potential effects of their ship disabling weapons, not seeming to care if the crew would be safe or not.

No, they're not shooting guns - but they are deliberately prodding a bear, hitting the proverbial bees nest BEGGING for a lethal level of retaliation to win a media war and change public opinion. Greenpeace, in an effectively unanimous vote, kicked the captain out because he was such an extremist.

As noted - I am torn between the respect for these kids for being 110% engaged and having the absolute courage of conviction - but I fear they are being led into the abyss by a madman with no moral compass.

Wait, is he making any of these people perform these dangerous acts? NO.

And the Sea Shepherd appears to be more effective than Green Peace at stopping this whale hunt and bringing media attention to the slaughter.

 

[babylon5]

Problem is, who is out there patrolling the water to make sure whales, which are an endangered species, are not being hunted in mass numbers? It's not like those fisherman would know better to stop and not hunt every single one of whales to extinction for $$$. And not like the whales can defend themselves against huge steel ships with harpons flying at them and rip their skin apart. You have to ask yourselves how did the whales got reduced to such small number in first place.


Sea Shepherd's tactics might be aggressive, but they are defending the whales from humans who couldn't careless if they will survive. I say Captain Paul Watson is doing the right thing.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: synapsetx

Originally posted by: BoomerD
I agree that the captain seems less concerned about the lives of his crew than of his...reputation?...legacy?...personal fame?.

I think you hit it - I think he wants be a martyr for the cause. Provoke a lethal level of reaction, and die for "the cause".

He hit it, indeed, Captain Sparky! :thumbsup:

He's just like those shit heels Gandhi and MLK, "provoking a lethal level of interaction" in the face of wrongdoing by interposing their intimidating bodies between ugly wrongoders and their mere arms, and willing, like our founding fathers, THOSE CRAZED TERRORISTS, to "die for a cause."

Such people disgust me! :shocked:

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: synapsetx

Originally posted by: BoomerD
I agree that the captain seems less concerned about the lives of his crew than of his...reputation?...legacy?...personal fame?.

I think you hit it - I think he wants be a martyr for the cause. Provoke a lethal level of reaction, and die for "the cause".

He hit it, indeed, Captain Sparky! :thumbsup:

He's just like those shit heels Gandhi and MLK, "provoking a lethal level of interaction" in the face of wrongdoing by interposing their intimidating bodies between ugly wrongoders and their mere arms, and willing, like our founding fathers, THOSE CRAZED TERRORISTS, to "die for a cause."

Such people disgust me! :shocked:

heh-heh...nice twisting of the words Perk...

Like I said in my ORIGINAL post, I would like to see humans stop warring on what is probably the MOST INTELLIGENT species on the planet. In today's world, there is NO REASON to hunt and kill whales for any reason. I don't care if the culture has used whales as food for thousands of years, humans have decimated the whale populations nearly to extinction in many parts of the oceans, and the practice should be stopped.
I may not like the tactics being used by the Sea Shephards, and some of them seem to be silly and ineffective, but I do support their mission.
Greenpeace needs to re-grow a set of balls and get back in the fight.
(Maverick, re-engage! MAVERICK...RE-ENGAGE!)

 

[marincounty]

Originally posted by: synapsetx

Originally posted by: BoomerD
I agree that the captain seems less concerned about the lives of his crew than of his...reputation?...legacy?...personal fame?.

I think you hit it - I think he wants be a martyr for the cause. Provoke a lethal level of reaction, and die for "the cause".

They have already had martyrs.

Text

Commander of 1985 French Bombing of Greenpeace Ship Living Freely in Virginia?as U.S.-Paid Arms Dealer
Twenty two years ago a group of French government agents blew up a ship known as the Rainbow Warrior off the coast of New Zealand. On board were activists from the group Greenpeace who were protesting French nuclear testing in the Pacific. One member of Greenpeace died in the blast. Thirteen French agents were identified as being directly involved in the bombing but only two were ever convicted. Now it has been revealed that the commander of the unit is living freely in McLean, Virginia. Louis-Pierre Dillais is president of an arms manufacturer with several government contracts. Greenpeace has urged the Department of Homeland Security to deport Dillais became of his direct ties to an act of state terrorism. But the Bush administration has not moved on the request

 

[manowar821]

Yeah, it is kind of crazy... I mean, why not just shoot the whalers?

 

[CanOWorms]

These imperialists must be stopped for their crimes against humanity. I hope that the Japanese use military resources to stop further colonialism.

The last Japanese whaling hunt did NOT kill any endangered whales, but Americans in Alaska did kill endangered whales.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I've been watching it and admire their willingness to sacrifice their very lives to stop the Japanese whale hunts.

What do you mean by their 'serious lack of consideration for human life and suffering'? They are not shooting guns or attempt to hurt any of the whale hunters. He's not sacrificing anybody's life either. All of the volunteers know what they are getting into and willing to make the commitment and possible sacrifice.

These people are about alotmore than stipping whale killers. Its more about Planet killers.

 

[ericlp]

Yummy! Blue Whale hamburgers!

I heard Japanese Whale meat is sold off all over the world. Sushi anyone?

Anyway, Yeah, I too would support a ban on hunting them. It seems we've hunted these creatures long enough and taken far too many. They need to recover if they can.

Tho, this is no different the long net fishing that also should be banned. Or fishing for sharks and cutting off the fins and throwing them back in to die. I think there needs to be some EXTREME measures taken for this kind of shit that goes on.

Like we need a world wide fishing ban? If someone is caught fishing illegally? Then we need to take everyone off the boat, place charges on the boat and send it and it's cargo to the bottom of the ocean. The laws are too laxed and this kinda stuff will go on and on. For wild life to recover there needs to be a WORLD effort. Tho, I too have been watching whale wars, I think it's a joke what they are doing. I laughed my ass off when on the first show when the tried to lower the zodiac then they damaged the helicopter ... Jeeeezzzz What a bunch, I wouldn't want to be a boat with such a crew. I feel sorry for them and when the whale boats can out run them it just makes maters worse. But, on the other hand, what do you expect them to do?

They are on limited funds, They can't just put in torpedoes and start sinking ships... But............... They could drop crap from the helicopter or make some sort of compressed air shooting gun, to shoot stink bombs or whatever at the other boat. Kinda like those tshirt gun the shoots t-shirts into the crowds.

I could think up some ways to shoot something further then just hand throwing it. I highly doubt those bombs they are throwing are going to make much of a difference since they could just wash it off with a water cannon.

 

[Newbian]

I am still in favor of hunting humans.

If they want to stop the Japanese from hunting whales let them hunt the protesters instead.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
We have at least one Norwegian member on these forums who espouses his right to eat whale and thinks the rest of the world should stay out of their business.

Ok, let's make a deal...

They can eat all the whale meat they want, but they have to give up all the hot Norwegian chicks.

It is not fair that they get to eat their whale meat and hang out with out babes too.

 

[se7en]

I watched the show one time and all I had to say was who the fvck pays for all their crap? They don't have jobs so who is fitting the bill? Must be nice to play Captain Idiot and somehow get your clothes and food handed to you. . .

 

[Czar]

Should we use the same reasoning for wanting to ban whale hunting and apply it to other species as well?

Lets ban all fishing because some sub species of fushes are endangered.
Lets ban all hunting of birds because some bird species are endangered.
so on and so on

 

[tenthumbs]

I'm all for banning whale hunting but this show is actually causing me to dislike the whale huggers. Especially the Captain. The Sea Shepard crew are no better than their enemy.

 

[Martin]

I wish there was a way to farm whales. I mean, if you like steak, you can't tell me you wouldn't want to sink your teeth into these: http://www.highnorth.no/bilder/meat.jpg

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: se7en
I watched the show one time and all I had to say was who the fvck pays for all their crap? They don't have jobs so who is fitting the bill? Must be nice to play Captain Idiot and somehow get your clothes and food handed to you. . .

Donations. The one from last week they had $400k in engine damage and red hot chilli peppers gave $100k, the rest in other donations.

I am watching this show every week. I think these people are fvcking douches for putting their lives on the line for whales. Some of them say things that scare me; like hell, why not put the effort into people or something? Whales are majestic and all but ultimately they are just sea cattle. If we can chomp them without killing them all off, go for it. Granted, some of the whales they defend are on the endangered species list.

Anyway, although i don't give a damn about whales, I do admire their resolve, even if their captain seems like an ass. He is hardcore, but despite talking about love for humankind by protecting the whales he comes off as a very self-centered extremely unkind man, so it's a strange dichotomy. He was also very deceptive with his deliberate hostage situation. That should have been major bad PR for them.

All this said, the show is pretty interesting. Their crew are clearly made up of people with philosophy degrees and no real jobs or sense of tactical prudency--like they appear to continually forget their sat phones or calling in. If I was on a small boat in the antarctic I'd be damn sure I had all the com devices I could carry.

I am waiting for the guy in the helicopter to crash it some day. It will either just crash into the water or he'll have a catastrophic crash into the back of the ship while landing.

 

[Robor]

Sweet... Donating $100K to their cause makes me like the RHCP even more.

 

[TallBill]

I went whale watching on cape cod. The first few whales were interesting I guess, and seeing some wild dolphins caught me off guard.