Whale Wars Part 1
This post is being made in advance of the season's finale of Whale Wars, which will be discussed in Part 2. This one is more about the book detailing the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Whale Warriors,and the questions raised by the book and, for me, by watching the television series.
First, I want to give a link to the website for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, where you can donate or purchase items that support their efforts. Whether I agree with all of their beliefs or not, I certainly think their intentions are good and they deserve support. You can, and should, donate to them at http://www.seashepherd.org/
Now, on to the book.
I first heard of Whale Warriors when the author, Peter Heller, referred to it in his other book, Kook, which I love. I mentioned Kook in an earlier post so I won't go into any detail about it here, other than to say it is a good read if you like surfing and the ocean.
Whale Warriors is very well written and less of a hero worshiping type of book than the television series, which tends to present Captain Paul Watson in almost a messiah like light. Instead, Heller addresses not only Watson's fervent beliefs, but also his shortcomings and his, at times, willingness to skirt the truth in the pursuit of what he believes is an almost holy mission. Indeed, his zeal sometimes approaches that of those who willingly kill others and detonate suicide bombs in their belief that what they do is right. You quickly learn, or at least get the strong feeling, that Watson takes the life of animals and bugs more seriously than he does that of humans, an idea I don't necessarily agree with, but if it is his belief it is his belief. At times the TV show makes it appear that he makes decisions that can injure or cause the death of a crew member without really giving it as much regard as I personally believe he should. However, I do realize that television is edited and there may be more there that neither the book nor the TV actually shows.
While watching the series for the last three years Watson and his crew of mostly inexperienced volunteers has focused my attention on the plight of the whales but the television show is so caught up in the theatrics that some of the message is lost, a mistake that is not present in the book. Heller discusses not only the plight of the whales, but also the general danger we face in depleting and destroying the seas and fisheries.
Another point barely hinted at on television but directly addressed in the book is the difference between what Greenpeace does and what the Sea Shepherds do. Greenpeace runs back and forth with banners protesting while harpoons are fired over them killing whales. The Sea Shepherd directly engages the ships to stop whaling, using prop foulers, stink bombs, and even more aggressive methods to prevent the ships from completing their mission.
In addition, Heller makes no attempts at political correctness, and goes into more (and better) detail about the politics behind the whaling industry and in particular, Japan's "buying off" other nations to vote in their favor at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission:
"On June 16-20, the International Whaling Commission held its annual meeting in Saint Kitts. Led by the United States, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, the strong contingent opposed to commercial whaling accused the Japanese of buying votes from small, poor countries. It was observed that the year before Japan had given $5.9 million to Saint Kitts-Nevis, $11.5 million to Nicaragua, and $5.5 million to the Pacific island of Palau. All voted with Japan on all votes that came up. Watson claim that Togo paid its $10,000 membership fees with a sack full of yen."
Although much of the whaling takes place in Australian waters (you'll have to read the book and/or watch the shows to learn more about that), the Aussie government appears reluctant to do anything to piss off the Japanese government.. In the following paragraph, Heller and Watson do a good job of describing the relationship:
"…the Australian navy is a dog being kept on a leash while the government helps the burglars, 'The Australian government says the Japanese do not recognize the Australian claim to the Antarctic Treaty…In 1942 they did not recognize Australia's claim to Australia".
Heller does make a couple of missteps. In one part he quotes a chapter from Watson's book, Earthforce! An Earth Warriors Guide to Strategy, but apparently fails to recognize that these are not original ideas of Watson, but instead are lifted from Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Not a fatal mistake, but one which I did not expect a writer of Heller's caliber to make.
To those of us who love the oceans, the concept of whaling is a no-brainer, it's wrong. I was a little "iffy" on the concept of the Inuit tribes being allowed to take a limited number of whales, but in the book Watson takes the position that the whales aren't actually used to feed the tribes. Instead, the meat is sold to Japan, thus removing me from the "iffy" category on this point.
I urge you to get this book and read it. Whether you like or agree with Watson, Whale Warriors opens your eyes to situations that must be dealt with, and does it in a way that makes a good, entertaining read.
