Ocean Sentry
(From channelcanada.com)- An epic adventure infused with a message of conservation, Whale Wars premieres Sunday, November 9 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on Animal Planet. The seven-part series takes viewers on a powerful and adrenaline-fueled journey as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society risks their lives and takes action against alleged illegal whaling operations.
Highlighting the controversial whaling trade and the tactics that the Sea Shepherd and its staff and volunteers use to attempt to cripple it, Whale Wars documents the group’s three-month sojourn across the icy Antarctic waters at the far end of the globe. Using some aggressive techniques, including ramming and disabling whaling ships; disrupting whale carcass processing; engaging in physical entanglement; and boarding and dispersing fleets of whaling vessels, Whale Wars follows this dangerous and controversial campaign as the eclectic group – labeled activists, heroes or eco-pirates – battle it out to eradicate whaling on the high seas.
Founded in 1977 by Canadian native Captain Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was originated to go even further to stop whaling, poaching, shark finning, habitat destruction and purported ocean law violations than the Greenpeace group Watson had also co-founded. For several years, Watson’s group of staff and volunteers – including Canadian Quartermaster Shannon Mann – have engaged in a campaign every winter to find and stop Japanese ships that hunt whales in the name of research, attempting to stop them by any means necessary.
Highlights from Whale Wars include:
Whale Wars – “Needle in a Haystack”
Sunday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
Paul Watson is the captain and founder of Sea Shepherd, a radical environmental group dedicated to ending whaling in Antarctica. As Paul’s inexperienced crew sets sail from Melbourne, Australia he wonders if they are up to the challenge of such a dangerous campaign.
Whale Wars – “Nothing’s Ideal”
Sunday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
After spotting a whaling ship, Captain Watson devises a plan for two crew members to board it – but his plan sparks a safety debate that divides the team. As two volunteers enlist for the mission, they are immediately detained as the ship speeds away with two of the Sea Shepherd members still aboard.
Whale Wars – “International Incidents R Us”
Sunday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
With whalers holding two Sea Shepherd crew members hostage, Captain Watson rejects an offer to release them, forcing the Australian and Japanese governments to negotiate their return. Following an attack on the whalers and loss of radio contact, four crew members are stranded in the middle of the pitch-black, cold Antarctic night.
