“Whale Wars”— it’s an inconsequential Animal Planet show chronicling a miniature war that rages on the bottom half of the world’s seas. For years the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has sent ships deep into the Southern Hemisphere to combat the alleged whaling that is conducted by the Japanese non-profit Institute of Cetacean Research. The frequent confrontations between the two groups often involve the Sea Shepherd activists lobbing glass bottles of butyric acid at whaling ships and attempting to board or sabotage them. The whalers then use high-powered hoses and acoustic devices to disorient the anti-whalers in retaliation.
But in the last few months things have heated up. Two collisions have occurred between the contentious rivals. A few days ago the Yoshin Maru 3 collided with the anti-whaling ship— “The Bob Barker”— in the Antarctic. Just one month ago two other ships collided resulting in the sinking of the “Ady Gil a stealth boat used by the anti-whalers to try to sneak in and tangle the propellers of the larger whaling ship.
This apparent escalation creates an increasingly obvious problem— if this pattern continues, someone is going to get hurt; someone is probably going to die.
While that may seem overdramatic, the fact remains that whether you are throwing glass-bottle stink bombs or operating a high-powered hose, there is always going to be more danger involved when you are at sea. Metal sinks, and so do people. While the cause of the anti-whalers is commendable, their medieval methods are not going to earn them sympathy. Violence begets violence. Eco-terrorism may make good reality television, but it does not make a worthy cause.
Rather than peaceful protest, Whale Wars” shows vigilantism. The law does not forbid the alledged whalers from doing what they are doing. And nothing gives the Sea Shepherd activists the right to take the law into their own hands. While the killing of animals for profit is a regrettable reality the icy waters of Antarctica are not the Old West. Some would even point out that the whales being hunted and “researched” by this Japanese company are not even endangered.
While this issue may not be black and white there is a right way and a wrong way to do something about it— a peaceful protest rather than a riot; a handshake rather than a fist. Perhaps diplomacy with Japan and open discussion about the loopholes that may be allowing whaling to continue would help end the problem— especially since the open sea clashes obviously aren’t solving anything. In the recent collision both sides were quick to point fingers. Both the Institute for Cetacean Research and the Sea Shepherd activists accused the other side of intentionally ramming them. Either way the escalating confrontation is not showing any signs of calming down and things just keep getting needlessly dangerous. Here’s hoping no one dies.
