A trip back in time to find a lost connection at the fair

It’s Fascinating (and Fun) to Watch an Issue Unfold as Radical Interests Battle

“Whale Wars ‘09” kicked off its new season on Animal Planet Friday night. If you haven’t watched, give it a try. Basically, Paul Watson, an old-school Greenpeace radical who was kicked out of the group for his over-the-top tactics, leads a rag-tag bunch of greenhorn volunteers seeking to stop Japanese whalers in the Antarctic. It’s entertaining stuff as the aging Steve Irwin (Watson’s ship) battles the modern Japanese fleet. It’s also a reputation management masterstroke.

Greenpeace has to hate Watson even more than when they gave him the boot. Despite their long-term efforts to accomplish the same objective, it’s Watson who now gets all the attention. He professes that Greenpeace is weak and ineffective. They say Watson’s Sea Shepherd Conservation Society hinders progress with disruptive tactics such as launching stink bombs, boarding Japanese ships (creating an international stir in ‘08) and, it appears from this year’s promos, possibly colliding with a Japanese ship.

Watson and company have been around for decades. I remember reading about him in Outside Magazine a generation ago. He has always been on the fringe but certainly seems to have remained true to his vision. You have to hand it to him for that. As with last year, though, I wonder how his group might handle fame.

The Sea Shepherds stay true to their claims of poverty in the first episode. Yet the Steve Irwin’s foredeck sports a new $250,000 hangar for their helicopter and their Web site certainly seems to have undergone an upgrade. The show was somewhat of a cult hit last year. The publicity had to have helped fundraising.

Even though the first episode was mostly geared to set up the season, the Japanese come off looking just plain bad. For example, they choose to harpoon a whale with the Sea Shepherd’s helicopter hovering and filming instead of waiting an hour for the chopper to get low on fuel and return to its ship. Through careful scripting and sharp editing Watson’s bunch comes off looking good, if somewhat dysfunctional on an interpersonal basis.

“Whale Wars” is David versus Goliath with a bit of high-seas bumper cars mixed in. Add enough icebergs to conjure up images of the Titanic and you have some compelling viewing. The show is certain to gather an even larger audience this year.

I’m not sure how Watson got this gig. Perhaps a good producer at Animal Planet conjured it up for the potential drama. Regardless, the Sea Shepherds and anti-whaling folks will certainly further their agendas through “Whale Wars.” And the Japanese… well…they kind of look like greedy oafs trumping up a reason to eat whale meat.

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