Customer Reviews

Whale Wars: Season 2

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"Whale Wars Season 2" is about Sea Shepherd's 5th Whale Defense Campaign "Operation Musashi" in Antarctica.

The ultimate aim of Captain Paul Watson and his crew is to save endangered whales from the Japanese whaling fleet and to sink it ECONOMICALLY, that is, bankrupting it by interfering with the whaling activities as long and as intensely as possible. Over the last three years Watson and his crew have managed to do so and prevented the whalers from taking half their self-assigned quota of whales. The Japanese government has to spend large amounts of money to support this illegal activity which means whaling is now even more of a serious economic liability for them than ever before.

There was a lot of controversy over the Japanese claim that their whaling activities are "scientific research". In an interview (December 2009) with The Australian newspaper and Australian Broadcasting Corporation the Japanese Foreign Minister Okada said, "We have a tradition here in Japan of eating whale meat." Not once did Okada attempt to justify Japanese whaling operations as "scientific research." What has always been clear to anyone with an ounce of common sense, has now been confirmed by a Japanese government official. It's all about eating whale meat and commercial whaling, thus being illegal poaching.

Compared to season one, "Whale Wars 2" is even more exciting and dramatic. At the beginning of the campaign the STEVE IRWIN has to cross a dangerous ice field during the chase of the "Nisshin Maru" (the Japanese factory ship). The confrontation with the whaling fleet gets more aggressive. There's a collision between the STEVE IRWIN and the "Nisshin Maru" which was in the news around the world at that time. Watson and his crew are attacked by LRADs (Long range acoustic devices) - a military grade weapon causing nausea and disorientation, and the whalers throw golf balls and other metal objects at the Sea Shepherd crew, injuring some of them.

What I like about "Whale Wars" is that the activists are not depicted as superheroes but just as human beings who try to make a change by acting and risking their lives for these beautiful creatures of the sea. Towards the end of the series Captain Watson and his crew have to realize that their tactics and resources are not enough to completely stop the Japanese from whaling. During the last campaigns the whalers had always fled from the STEVE IRWIN. That season the Japanese whalers killed whales in front of the Sea Shepherds and the crew had to witness the agony of a harpooned whale fighting for his life and thrashing about in his own blood for 25 minutes. Nonetheless Captain Watson's strategy of bankrupting the Japanese whaling fleet is working and he is confident that he will finally succeed and shut down the Japanese whaling operations.

Thank you Sea Shepherd and Captain Paul Watson for what you are doing and showing us the way of a modern warrior with a moral code!

Japan is the last nation in the world that considers whales more interesting as meat than as wonderful creatures that deserve our most profound admiration and respect. To add insult to injury, their slaughter of 1.000 whales a year is done under the banner of "scientific research". The volunteers interfering with this cruel activity are considered by them as "eco-terrorists". For me, they are really heroes, ready to give their lives in order to save the lives of whales. In this series, you will see how the Japanese whaling fleet took some countermeasures to block the tactics of the Sea Shepherds, both defensive and offensive, leaving Paul Watson ultimately no other option than to use the only weapon he had left : ramming his boat into a killing boat. They are really the pirates of passion, fighting the pirates of greed.

The actions of the Sea Shepherds volunteers are very effective. Their unstoppable harassment succeeded this season in reducing the self-imposed Japan quota with 305 whales. Respect !

Japan really behaves very cruel towards all ocean life. Not only do they slaughter whales; they also massacre 23.000 dolphins every year... Check it out on The Cove.

At first I thought Captain Watson made some really poor choices unnecessarily putting himself and his crew at risk. And I was right. He did.

But the more I watched the more I realized these people really believe in what they are doing and I respect that, especially since their cause is just.

Though I thought they could have had better tactics ultimately they are under shipped and way out funded.

The Japanese ships are bigger & faster, equipped with LRAD and powerful water cannons. ***SPOILER*** Also they are not afraid of trying to hurt the Sea Shepard's Crew by flinging metal bolts and trying to take down the copter with their LRADS. These guys purposefully are trying to harm other human being showing they most definitely do not have the higher moral ground.

Working the best with what they had they constantly had to take risks to try to even the odds. Even with this they could not stop the Japanese whalers from shamelessly making money from killing whales under the guise of "Research". They literally makes hundreds of thousands of dollars per whale making it all too obvious this is not a Research operation but an exploit in a well placed loop hole.

At any rate the Sea Shepard's put up a hell of a valiant fight and showed the Japanese that they were not only not willing to back down but that they'd push the envelope as far as the could possibly get away with. This I believe will give them a much needed respect for the next season.

Though it is very fascinating I really hope there will not be a need for any more seasons but sadly this may take some time.

I hope Paul has made arrangements for the organization to continue if something should happen to him and crew. I know people think its dramatization but this stuff is seriously dangerous. All you need is to watch the last episode to know just how true this statement is.

May God Bless the Sea Shepard's effects. They're going to need it.


P.S. ***SPOILER*** BTW, the marriage scene on Scot Island with the music was the highlight of the show, totally awesome. You can totally tell the cameramen and editors love these guys.

These are real people doing the best that they can with the money that they have in some incredibly nasty conditions against some really nasty people. For all of those reviewers that say "don't see this", all that I can say is that is an ideologically driven answer.

This is a documentary, not an action drama movie. The filming is fantastic, the behind the scenes gives you all of the information that you need. And both sides of the conflict are presented as far as they are capable of doing.

As far as the crew and their "incompetence", remember again that these are real people, not actors, no scenes are rehearsed and these are not Navy Seals with a million dollars of training, operating a billion dollars of high-tech equipment. Most of them have real jobs the other 9 or 10 months of the year, from all walks of life and paid nothing. They have a driven sense of what is morally right that most of us would abandon after a few days.

Well worth the time to see the entire series.

Season 2 of Whale Wars sees members of The Sea Shepherds going back to Antarctica to continue their battle to protect whales from being killed by the Japanese whaling fleet. Once again the action takes place in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary where the Sea Shepherds contend that the Japanese are whaling illegally, and where the Japanese contend that they are carrying our authorized, legal whale research. The Sea Shepherds see the Japanese as murderers and plunderers of whales for profit, and the Japanese see the Sea Shepherds as eco-terrorists. So the stage is set...

This year it is nearly immediately evident that the Japanese fleet has learned some lessons from their prior encounters with the Sea Shepherds. Their ships are better protected from the Sea Shepherd's traditional tactics of throwing buteric acid and cellulose powder. They also show signs of escalating their defenses to including actions that can cause personal injury to Sea Shepherds who approach their ships. The Sea Shepherds are knocked back on their heels at first and then try to find ways to overcome the defenses of the Japanese.

Both of the parties involved make a case that they are in the right...and no one in the international community seems to be stepping up to support or condemn either position. The Sea Shepherds claim a mandate from the UN and the Australian Government to support their actions. The Japanese claim a mandate to justify their whaling activities through a provision in the International Whaling Commission's 1986 ban on commercial whaling that allows for each whaling nation to set their own quotas for lethal whaling research.

The Sea Shepherds unabashedly state that they are not in the Antarctic to observe or report on Japanese whaling activities...they are there to stop it. And, members of the Sea Shepherds state that they are willing to put their lives on the line to do so.

If you like real life drama in a reality TV setting, then this show is for you. You will get to know the nature and character of individual members of the Sea Shepherds, since all filming is done on and from their ship, small boats, and helicopter.

Watch, and then you too will be able to develop your own opinion about the present and future of whaling.

No matter which side of the debate you fall on, you can't deny that this is a great show. The cinematography does an incredible job of making you feel the remoteness and ferocity of the Antarctic location. There is plenty of action, and it is easy to make a connection with the crew members of the Steve Irwin.

More importantly, this show is quite thought provoking. I've watched it with a number of of different people and a lively discussion always follows. The extreme position of both sides of this "eco war" forces you to reflect on your own thoughts and, in my case, delve into a lot of reading on the subject. TV could use more shows like this.

In general this is an incredible story being told by great documentarians that could only be made better if filming was allowed on the whaling ships, but I don't see that happening anytime soon...

well i was going to buy the show till i seen it was edited.
they cut out stuff that was seen on tv.
and i dont buy edited shows.
what a shame...

Season 2 was definately better than the first. Unfortunatley they were completely unsuccessful in this one because the Nushin Maru was too clever. They made it virtually impossible for the Sea Sheapards to attack their processing ship in any way. The Nushin Maru could not be stopped and actually harpooned and processed 4 or 5 whales right in front of the Sea Sheapards. This whale meat would be later shipped off to Japan's fish markets.

I was just about in tears when I saw this actual footage, but anyway it was an excellent campaign. My husband and I are thinking of joining the Sea Sheapards ourselves in the future. Who knows, we might be on the video some day!!! We feel very strongly about it.

Both Japan and the US eat whales. The US allows the northern Alaskan Indians to hunt, kill, and eat the whales. It's allowed due to tradition over the years. The Japanese feel the same way, they have been killing whales for thousands of years. I would prefer the US to take the lead and stop all whale killing so they can say from the high mountain that killing whales is bad.