Whale Wars - WTF?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone explain to me the zealotry of these people? My DH is fascinated by the show, and I've recently been sucked in. I love animals and all, but have no qualms about eating the tasty ones, so obviously my perspective is not that of those who fight Japanese whalers. But still, I'm curious why these people would risk their lives to save whales rather than for a cause that would help humans - I really don't understand that.

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen the show but maybe they are into extreme environmentalism--to protect the environment and resources and preserve animal species.

[Anonymous]

For me, I believe that whales and dolphins have higher order thinking skills and that they exhibit certain human family like qualities and that they should be left alone.

Also, because you've watched the program you know that the Japanese whaling fleet uses technology to locate the whales and modern weapons to kill them. They then transfer the carcasses to factory ships where they are butchered into salable packages for human consumption.

You should also watch a documentary called "The Cove" which documents the capture and slaughter of 23,000 dolphins in Japan every year.

For me it is eqaully perverse for people to douse themselves with deer urine to mask their nature human smell and then to sit in a tree all day long with a high powered rife equipped with scope hoping for a hapless animal to wander into their range.

Vis-a-vis protecting animals or humans; the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have compassion for both. Many of us contribute to both organizations like "Save the Children" and "Whale Wars".

[Anonymous]

I am in the WTF camp, too. If I wanted to get riled up, I turn it on. I admire their passion but also think their methods are wholly unacceptable. They would probably say otherwise, but there MUST be more effective means to end the practices they deem unjust. I can see a group taking such extreme measures if human life were involved....but not animals.

I appreciate 6:58's thoughtful response to this post. Food for thought- that group's activities turn me waaay off to supporting them. I can only assume they think it's their last resort and could give a rat's ass about my support (and others with similar thoughts).

[Anonymous]

The show is amazing. It totally keeps DH and I at the edge of our seats. And just when you think everything has gone wrong (which it does), they actually manage to do some good!

They really care about whales. If everyone only cared about people and not animals, our ecosystem would sustain some serious damage. They are craay, like really nuts, but somebody has to do something to protect the environment.

[Anonymous]

I've never seen the show, but I agree with PP that the mass slaughter of whales in the wild is different from most other kinds of meat-manufacturing. Whales and dolphins are incredibly intelligent and have complex societies. It takes them many, many years to reach sexual maturity, and they only have one offspring at a time, meaning that the tipping point is much closer than it is for say, pigs, who can reproduce at 1 year of age and have 14 babies a year. By the time whale-meat-eaters realize the impact on the population (if they care), it will be too late.
I have to wonder about the intelligence and humanity of a people that collectively sees no problem with hunting and killing these animals.
(Tangentially, I love the zoo-- but cannot set foot inside the great ape house. That's another unconscionable abuse in my mind. They're just too smart and aware to be kept in captivity.)

[Anonymous]

I think the main guy on this show is really obnoxious, but I have to give him credit for actually having a passion in life and following it no matter what. I wish I had something I cared that much about!

[Anonymous]

One of the best shows ever - Brought lots of awareness to an important subject, even of some of their methods are questionable. And everyone should be concerned about whaling and fisheries practices in general! Most fisheries on the planet are overexploited and it is predicted that most of the fish we rely on today for food will disappear in the next 40 years. Then what?? Fisheries need to be managed in a sustainable way, otherwise they will be gone. Whales were brought to critically low numbers in the 60s, some species close to extinction. The whaling ban was the only thing that allowed populations to recover (same as with many other fisheries where the ONLY way to avoid collapsing is to put a ban in place). 1035 whales a year for "research purposes" is WAY too much (and the fact that the japanese claim to do this in the name of "research" when 100% of the mwhales end up in the meat market tells you a lot about the intentions of the japanese whaling fleet to follow guidelines).

It takes these animals dozens of years to reach sexual maturity and years of gestation to produce a single offspring. They are socially complex, magnificent and should NOT be killed or eaten, for a variety of reasons I've mentioned but also because their meat is HIGHLY toxic (allowed mercury levels for fish are in the 0.05 ppm range, whale and dolphin meat contain mercury in the thousands ppm

Does this mean we should not care about human causes? NO
But definitely fisheries management should be a priority, for ecosystem purposes but also for those same human causes

[Anonymous]

DH is in the Coast Guard and this show makes him insane, he gets so mad. Those Whale Wars guys put so many lives in danger when they pull their stunts. I'm not pro-animal killing or anything but agree that putting lots of lives at risk, including those of the CG as they try to control these guys, isn't the answer.

[Anonymous]

What is the Coast Guard doing in the Southern Ocean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is in the Coast Guard and this show makes him insane, he gets so mad. Those Whale Wars guys put so many lives in danger when they pull their stunts. I'm not pro-animal killing or anything but agree that putting lots of lives at risk, including those of the CG as they try to control these guys, isn't the answer.

The only lives they endanger are their own and they are all willing to do that. If the Japanese whalers were near the Coast Guard, this would all be a non-issue. Its bc there's no one out there to stop them that they take matters into their own hands.

[Anonymous]

I think this show if filled with the biggest bunch of morons I've ever seen. It's like a boat full of Gilligans. They are all bumbling fools and they are always breaking something or doing something wrong. It's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this show if filled with the biggest bunch of morons I've ever seen. It's like a boat full of Gilligans. They are all bumbling fools and they are always breaking something or doing something wrong. It's ridiculous.

Haha, my brother had almost the exact same thing to say.

"They are all trust fund environmentalists. I doubt they would put their own hard earned money towards this half-assed idiotic endeavor. Stupidest bunch of hippies ever." -- My brother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this show if filled with the biggest bunch of morons I've ever seen. It's like a boat full of Gilligans. They are all bumbling fools and they are always breaking something or doing something wrong. It's ridiculous.

I agree completely, yet, if you saw the entire season, the actually managed to find the boat and prevent whaling for a period of time. So even though they seem to have no idea what they are doing with a non-ice proof boat in the middle of Antartica, they actually succeeded!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haha, my brother had almost the exact same thing to say.

"They are all trust fund environmentalists. I doubt they would put their own hard earned money towards this half-assed idiotic endeavor. Stupidest bunch of hippies ever." -- My brother.

Oh, I am in love with your brother! I feel the same way.