I absoulutely beleive in what these people are doing and commend them on their bravery. That being said, I have never seen a group of people so absoultely incompetant at the basic’s of what they are trying to do. This show makes them out as a bunch of well-intentioned fools, and as far as this Paul Watson goes….

Kari, I find it disgusting that instead of caring about what is actually happening on the show, you simply point out all of the alleged shortcomings in the sailing skills of the crew. Moreover, you say that the crew had no idea what they were getting into. I completely disagree… the crew got into the situation in order to SAVE WHALES. It is because of people like you (people who do not care about the environment at all) that the world is in the embarrasing environmental state that it currently is.

Rory, thanks for the suggestion about checking Paul Watson’s activities and methods out on the internet. I’m glad I did, and share your disgust with him, and I’ll have to add my name to the millions who view him as nothing more than a narcissistic eco-terrorist. Your post was well stated and I absolutely agree with everything in it.

Buttinski, thank goodness there ARE people who ride their horses higher than the likes of a Paul Watson because it shows that not everyone can be taken in by the smoke cover and can clearly see through the bs put out by a Watson type. As for what is wrong with Watson and his people enforcing maritime whaling laws? Very simple… the organization has no official mandate or authorization to enforce any legislation. If they wanted to trail any suspected illegal whaling ships and take pictures of their actions and document locations/actions, etc., and contact the law enforcement entity responsible for that area, then they certainly are within their rights to do so, and I could respect what they’re trying to do. But they have no authority, either moral or legal, to attempt to damage, disable, or board another ship and/or it’s crew. And as for your claim that Watson’s actions have never hurt anyone, including whalers, you are incorrect. And though no deaths have occurred due to his actions yet, the nature of his dangerous tactics combined with his current tendency to put untrained and inexperienced people at the controls of ship functions most likely means it’s only a matter of time until a death occurs… more likely one of themselves as opposed to a whaler.

Kari, some of the things you mentioned are just what my wife and I were commenting on when we watched this show. The incompetency, and in some cases, downright stupidity, of these people running operations on the ship is mind-boggling. It’s like the Keystone Cops run amok on a ship. Add to that a severe lack of common sense, and the stage is set for recurring accidents and equipment abuse and misuse.

Steven, accusing Kari of not caring about the environment is rather ridiculous since nothing in her/his post indicated her stance on it. And since sailing and ship safety is obviously something she/he is very familiar with, and since to most people watching the show the lack of skill and safety was obvious, Kari’s post was quite on-target and on-topic with a legitimate concern.

Jan, I couldn’t agree with you more. By their own words, members of the Sea Shepherds call themselves eco-pirates. IMO, they should be treated as any pirate would, subject to applicable maritime laws relating to piracy.

I have been active in and committed to several eco/global issues for many years, and I absolutely cringe when someone the likes of a Paul Watson’s name becomes publicly associated with eco issues. Watson’s tactics, while full of drama and milked for all the publicity he can get out of it, might seem heroic to those who don’t know the whole story, or to those who form their opinions based on edited sound bites or articles based on information supplied by Sea Shepherd itself. But the reality is that Watson is no hero, and his actions make it that much harder for real progress to be made in the global community. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and an eco-terrorist is still just a terrorist, even when you put ‘eco’ in front of the word. Animal Planet, participating in this show is so beneath you. And to anyone who is interested, you don’t have to take anyone’s words here for granted if you want to know what Paul Watson is all about. Just use your search browser on Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd to find information on them and make your own judgements about him.

These people are eco-terrorist and aggravating. there are proper ways to say what you believe in and the way they are attacking the whalers is ridiculous. whaling is NOT illegal where thy are doing it and these people are just IDIOTS.. I have LESS respect for animal planet, a channel that usually has people doing good for animals, not committing terrorist like acts. thanks animal planet for making me despise you and your lowly efforts to put a jerry springer quality show on the air.

RS, you said that they don’t always do things by the book? That appears to be their mandate! They go to sea with the intent to attack, disable and board ships on the High Seas. This is the very definition of Piracy. You say they deserve commendations for “their AMAZING dedication to this very important cause”. Guess what, serial killers are amazingly dedicated to their cause also. Now I am not trying to compare these people with serial killers, but excusing the Sea Shepherds acts of terrorism and piracy because they are dedicated is ridiculous.
Lets put it this way, I have a salmon fishing boat and if I am on Lake Michigan fishing and someone attacks me, disables and attempts to board my boat … they had better be a uniformed law enforcement agent or I will defend myself and my property by any means necessary.

I have no love for whaling, and think that is totally unnecessary, but these eco-terrorists have raised sympathy for the whalers and make all people who support saving the whales look like easily dismissed nut jobs including you and Hayden Panattiere. The Sea Shepherds have done the legitimate whale conservationists a great harm and disservice.

Some of these people are idiots.

First of all stop freaking out over “acid”. It’s rancid butter aka “buteric acid”. It’s not a big deal.

Second, boo hoo “the japanese have a legal right”. No, they don’t. They are exploiting loopholes with wild abandon and nobody is bothering to do anything about it.

Third, “their tactics are wrong and dangerous.. manufacturing hostage situations blah blah blah”. It’s called TACTICS, you idiots. You do what you have to do.

I’m not an environmentalist. I mean, yeah, I give a damn, but I also eat meat and wear leather and don’t recycle. But I’m all for people taking things into their own hands and doing the right thing when nobody else can be bothered. More, I’m all for these people who are more or less laymen laying their lives on the lines and actually DOING SOMETHING other than posting on the internet or walking around some college campus with a useless sign.

“Get Real”… let’s put it this way… if you are salmon fishing on Lake Michigan, you are under direct American jurisdiction. These guys are at the frigging ANTARCTIC where there is no direct law, except multi-national sanction granting it as a whale sanctuary. Your comparison is flat out stupid.

Your comparison would make more sense if you said “Let’s say I go bear hunting in Montana… but the bears are an endangered and protected species and killing bears is illegal…. EXCEPT for scientific purposes… so I’m just going to go kill every single bear I can and call it “scientific research” even though I’m really just chopping them up for beef-stew”.

And let’s say nobody bothers to enforce the law, so you get away flaunting it in front of everyone.

And then someone says “if nobody will bother to enforce the law, I will stop you”.

There’s nothing more American. Or human. I’m all for it. I hope they continue kicking ass. Eco-terrorists are the idiots who set an entire car lot on fire and destroy logging equipment while putting loggers lives in danger. These guys are trying to stop illegal whaling with jars of rancid butter and sturdy ropes. Hardly eco-terrorism.

Pussies, I have no tolerance for.

The people on the show are mostly amateurs. I’m sure it’d be great to somehow afford to fund a highly professional and experienced sea crew and a bunch of mercenaries to protect everyone, but until they somehow luck into such ridiculous funding to allow that, they’ll have to make due with weekend-warriors putting a few months down of their own personal time at their own personal expense, doing the best they can.

Yes, it often seems like a bunch of keystone cops screwing up left and right and occasionally lucking into something effective, but at least they’re DOING SOMETHING.

It’s much easier to sit around raising money, hanging banners, chanting slogans, and crying on television for sympathy of a cause than ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING about anything. These people have my utmost respect. I wish more people would get off their asses and DO something about things they care about and that promote the progression of society.

Imagine if America’s founding fathers never got off their asses and just sat back at home across the pond singing ditties and wearing ribbons to protest inequities? Yes, nothing scares people into doing the right thing than chants and ribbons and bumper stickers… ooooh!

It’s clear that the people who post against this sort of thing and slander Watson and his crew fall into one of four categories:

* Part of the whaling industry.
* Right-wing tard who calls EVERYTHING eco-terrorists or femi-nazis because Rish Limbaugh and Glenn Beck tell them to.
* Uneducated ignorant house-fraus and mouth-breathers.
* Green-Peacers and other scammers who care more about showing the world how they care more about stuff than anyone else, while raising money to continue their foundation to afford them to go around showing people how much more they care again and never actually get around to DOING ANYTHING HELPFUL with their time, effort, organization, or money.

Paul Watson and his crews have stones and it pisses people off who just want everyone to wave pretty little flags and sing environmental chants and then go home.

You can actually e-mail the icr (the bastards killing whales under the obnoxious “research” cover) the web sight is http://www.icrwhale.org. I saw the adress on the ship when they were pulling up a murdered whale. Their e-mail adress is webmaster@icrwhale.org. It’s given right on the web sight, it’s to the left side just click on comments.