Whale Wars is an American docu-reality television series produced by RIVR Media which follows Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard the MV Steve Irwin attempt to deter Japanese ships that hunt minke and fin whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the name of research.
The series premiered in the USA on Animal Planet on 7 November, 2008. A third season was ordered by Animal Planet in 2009.
Whale Wars premiered in South Africa on DStv's Animal Planet channel on Saturday 9 May 2009, at 19h30. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 premiered on Animal Planet on Wednesday 9 September 2009, at 21h00. There are 11 hour-long episodes in the second season.
Season 2 Repeats
Thursdays: 01h00
Saturdays: 22h00
Sundays: 01h00, 04h40
Season 1
Highlighting both the controversial whaling trade and the tactics that Sea Shepherd and its staff and volunteers use to attempt to cripple it, Whale Wars documents the group's three-month sojourn across icy Antarctic waters at the far end of the globe.
Each week, Animal Planet embarks on a powerful and adrenaline-fuelled adventure and spotlights how Sea Shepherd takes action against alleged illegal whaling operations.
The society's fight to eradicate Japanese whaling on the high seas – where international laws are interpreted by different countries and organisations in different ways – utilises some aggressive techniques.
These include ramming and disabling whaling ships, disrupting whale carcass processing, engaging in physical entanglement and boarding and dispersing fleets of whaling vessels.
Season 2
In March 2009, when the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel The Steve Irwin docked in Hobart, Tasmania, it was met by two dozen members of the Australian Federal Police.
They were there to confiscate hundreds of hours of videotape, launching an investigation into what was one of the most intense and dramatic campaigns ever conducted by the Sea Shepherds in their 30-year history.
Those seized tapes and hundreds of hours of other footage comprise the second season of Animal Planet's Whale Wars. More dangerous, drama-filled and controversial than ever, Whale Wars returns with a vengeance.
Collisions at sea, harrowing nautical manoeuvres, a near-death experience in an ice field and more aggressive Japanese defences against the Sea Shepherds — including the use of Long Range Acoustical Devices (LRADs), sonic devices that cause intense pain and could cause permanent hearing damage — are just some of the highlights in store this season.
And this year, the Japanese whaling fleet suffered a deadly loss as one of its workers slipped and fell overboard (not during an engagement with the Sea Shepherds) and whose body was never recovered.
Captain Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd offered to help in a rescue mission for the missing worker, but the whaling vessels claimed they did more to interfere than assist.
"I have always said that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end illegal whaling in the Antarctic," says Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd.
"We have done everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We cost them money, and we have saved the lives of a good many whales."
This season on Whale Wars, in addition to returning crew members Peter Brown (First Officer), Peter Hammarstedt (Second Officer), Chris Aultman (Helicopter Pilot/Aviation Director), Laurens de Groot (Deckhand), Ben Potts (Helicopter Crew) and Shannon Mann (Quartermaster), The Steve Irwin is joined by Jane Taylor (Quartermaster), Luke Van Horn (Communications Officer), Andy Perry (Leading Deckhand), Molly Kendall (Deckhand) and Laura Dakin (Chief Cook).
These featured crew members help comprise the 40 international crew who spent the winter putting their lives on the line for whales.
Seasons
(All seasons air exclusively on Animal Planet)
Season 1 (7 episodes)
Premiere: 9 May 2009 | Finale: 20 June 2009 | Saturdays, 19h30
Season 2 (11 episodes)
Premiere: 9 September 2009 | Finale: 18 November 2009 | Wednesdays, 21h00