June 14, 2009

Humpback whale and baby (photo credit: Animal Planet)

I don't usually sit around on my fan-fan-fanny watching TV.  But this week started crazy and ended that way, and by the time Friday rolled around, I was brain-fried.  Don't ask!  The details are gory.  But the most strenuous thing I could manage by Friday night was to catch up on my Google Reader a little, and to press the TV remote control channel button until I landed on Animal Planet.

I happened upon the premier episode of season two of a show called “Whale Wars”.  Have you heard of this show?  I hadn't, but 5 minutes into one episode and I'm hooked.  I found myself watching with my breath held, and my hand covering my mouth.  It's emotional, dramatic, suspenseful, action-packed, and real.  There is wicked weather, life-threatening storms, treacherous icebergs and ice fields, in addition to the threat against the whales.  And since I've been a vegetarian for 15 years solely because of my love for animals, the fact that the show's focus is on saving whales makes it mesmerizing to me.  After seeing humpback whales in Hawaii, I can't imagine that anyone could harpoon them for their “meat”.  They seem to be the most joyous, innocent, peaceful animals that you could imagine.

I didn't know it, but in 1986, commercial whaling was outlawed internationally.  The co-founder of Greenpeace, Paul Watson, knew it.  In 1977 he founded a group called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  In “Whale Wars”, he is the captain of an aging ship called the Steve Irwin, and Paul's passion is enforcing the whaling ban, regardless of the cost.  In “Whale Wars”, he hits the international seas with 36 volunteers and a mission.

I saw 2 episodes, both featuring the Sea Shepherds' hunt in Antarctica for Japanese fishermen who were illegally killing whales.  The Japanese claimed to be killing the whales legally for research.  You know where I stand in that debate; on the side of the whales.  Watch this show.  Make up your own mind.

~BigSis