Whale of a tale

What does it take to make the fishermen of Deadliest Catch look tame? Try steering a boat through icebergs off Antarctica and attacking giant vessels ten times its size. That’s what the Sea Shepherds aboard the Steve Irwin do in the Animal Planet documentary show Whale Wars, out on DVD this week.

Started in 1977 by Paul Watson—who earlier cofounded and then clashed with Greenpeace—the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society tracks down questionably legal whaling ships in the name of animal rights. They throw stink bombs, hinder propellers and generally annoy the Japanese whaling industry into inaction—and they have received enough mixed press that the network airs a “not endorsed” warning before each show. The first season was seven episodes of all-out battle between the Shepherds and whalers, which eventually ended in gunplay (allegedly—the bizarre controversy is part of the show’s unique appeal), and crews are currently taping a second season down in the Southern Ocean. The Shepherds’ executive director, Kim McCoy, was on hand to oversee last year’s campaign (which, at one point, cribbed an attack strategy from Star Wars).

The show got graphic sometimes: bloody whales being dragged on the whaling ship deck…
You know, I think it’s really important. We have an emotional reaction when we see footage like that. I think there’s also a balance. You don’t want to show too much of it, or it’s just gonna be unbearable for people to watch, and they’re gonna tune out and just cover their eyes and ears.

What kind of people volunteer to go stop whaling boats?
We’ve got everybody from 16 to, well, we actually had a crew member who was 85 years old. You’ve got your hard-core committed vegan activists and then you’ve got somebody’s grandfather.

Do you think the Sea Shepherds ever go too far?
I think it’s pretty much dead-on. I think it’s what needs to be done. I’m not comfortable doing anything that would cause harm to any living being, including the people that are hunting these animals, so we take about the strongest, most direct-action approach that you can without being violent or hurting anybody.

What do you think about being called an ecoterrorist?
I would say that you turn it right back around and that word applies to the whalers. You know, ecoterrorism is terrorizing our ecosystem, in my book.

Do volunteers usually know what they’re getting into?
It’s funny. I remember the first time I saw my first few episodes of Whale Wars and I said, “You know, I had no idea that our campaign was that exciting!” You boil it down into a TV show and it looks like we’re all ripping around, doing exciting shit all the time.

Where did your pirate-flag logo come from?
Basically, we developed it because people were starting to call us pirates. And despite the negative connotation some might have, we actually really liked it and thought it was kind of fun.

Pirates are cool!
Yeah! But we like to say that sometimes it takes a pirate to stop a pirate, and we’re the pirates of compassion in pursuit of the pirates of greed and profit.

Whale Wars (Animal Planet, $19.95) is out now.