Whale Wars is a television show on Animal Planet in which founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson and his crew attempt to deter Japanese fisherman from harming whales.
The use their fleet to disable whaling ships, destroying over $1 million dollars of nets and one of their own speedboats worth $2 million. They use water cannons, flashbang grenades, and stink bombs to deter the enemies of the animals they protect. The crew has been labeled by pirates as some, but have never been convicted of a criminal charge or caused harm to another human.
The ethics of their actions have been called into question. Is it okay to take a questionable route to save a life? The Japanese fisherman are killing endangered whales, and the crew of Whale Wars just want to prevent it. Are they justified?
Greenpeace believes that their actions are not warranted. They believe that conversation is more efficiently spread through peaceful policy discussions, calling Watson’s actions “morally wrong” and counter-productive to the cause. Greenpeace’s reaction to Sea Shepherd’s aggressive tactics has prompted a response from Watson calling Greenpeace, “Yellowpeace” implying cowardliness.
It is true that whaling has done great harm to the ocean’s ecosystem. The blue whales of the Antarctic are at less than 1 percent of their original abundance, despite 40 years of complete protection, according to Greenpeace. But terrible conditions in the ocean do not justify unethical human actions. It is best to put real effort into achieving international protection laws, and enforcing these laws, that can protect the species.
