I spent time aboard the Steve Irwin with the Sea Shepherd crew during filming of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars: Viking Shores. Here’s what I found.
Jeff Rice, who helped make Whale Wars, Destination Truth, Amazing Race possible, remembered as a “gifted person”
To most viewers, Jeff Rice was a name that flashed by in a second during the credits at the end of an episode of a favorite reality series, such as Destination Truth, Whale Wars, or The Amazing Race. But as a facilitating producer, he helped made it possible for those shows to film in remote… continue reading
Whale Wars camera operator, activists injured by hooks, bamboo poles
The intensity of the confrontation between anti-whaling activists and Japanese whalers continues in the Southern Ocean, where a camera operator for Animal Planet’s documentary reality series Whale Wars was injured. On its web site, Sea Shepherd reports that “American crewmember Brian Race, (25) from New York, was jabbed twice in the face with a bamboo… continue reading
Sea Shepherd used drones to find Japanese whaling fleet; Whale Wars renewed
Although Sea Shepherd stopped Japanese whaling last year, the country decided to resume whaling this year, using tsunami relief funds to fund additional security, so Sea Shepherd’s boats are back–and that means Animal Planet’s Whale Wars will be back, too. The network unsurprisingly renewed the series, noting that it is one of its three highest-rated… continue reading
Japan will resume whaling with “increased” “protection,” likely leading to more Whale Wars
Last season of Whale Wars looked like it would be the last of the Animal Planet show because Sea Shepherd’s campaign against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean had apparently succeeded. Last spring, Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson told me “We’ve actually won the whale wars.” That’s because Japan suspended whaling due to Sea Shepherd’s actions…. continue reading
Whale Wars will spin-off series following Sea Shepherd’s new Faroe Islands campaign
Animal Planet announced today that Whale Wars will spin-off a companion series that follows Sea Shepherd’s efforts to stop pilot whale slaughter in the Danish territory of the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands Project “began filming July 15 and will continue through the end of the Sea Shepherd’s ‘Operation Ferocious Isles’ campaign. No airdate or… continue reading
As Sea Shepherd searches for a ship lost in a storm, Whale Wars delivers exceptional TV
Whale Wars broke from its typical narrative arc on Friday night to air an episode entirely focused on the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin joining a search for a missing yacht that activated its emergency beacon in the middle of a storm so powerful that a New Zealand navy ship had to turn away. They… continue reading
Whale Wars producer explains intense, life-threatening cliffhanger
If Whale Wars is in the middle of its final season, as Paul Watson predicted, it will go out as one of the best reality TV shows ever. The series continues to edit the real-life actions of the Sea Shepherds into consistently compelling and intense television, as next week’s resolution to last week’s cliffhanger will… continue reading
Paul Watson predicts the fourth season of Whale Wars, premiering tonight, will be the last
Whale Wars returns for its fourth and potentially final season tonight, as Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson thinks his organization has won the battle against whaling in the Southern Ocean. The Animal Planet series is one of my favorite series because it is one of the best reality TV shows on television today, editing incredibly real… continue reading
Japan suspends whaling because of Sea Shepherd
The upcoming season of Whale Wars will chronicle Sea Shepherd’s most successful campaign yet, as Japan’s government has suspended whaling in the Southern Ocean, where Sea Shepherd boats, with camera crews aboard, have been preventing the fleet from whaling all season, and there’s talk that whaling might end permanently. That seems to be at least… continue reading
Sea Shepherd, whalers’ claims “impossible to verify,” AP says, ignoring Whale Wars
Is it possible that the Associated Press has no knowledge of Animal Planet’s outstanding reality series Whale Wars, which documents the Southern Ocean battles between Sea Shepherd conservationists and Japanese whalers? It certainly seems like that, because in a story about Sea Shepherd finding the whaling fleet–before they were able to start whaling–the AP’s Kristen… continue reading
Pete Bethune says Sea Shepherd let Ady Gil sink for publicity
Pete Bethune, the captain of the Ady Gil, the ship that sank after a collision with a Japanese whaling vessel, now says that the ship was salvagable but Sea Shepherd’s Paul Watson wanted to let it sink to get more publicity, a charge Watson says isn’t true. Footage of the incident was part of Whale… continue reading
Michelle Rodriguez, YouTube winner joining Sea Shepherd on its next campaign
Animal Planet’s awesome Whale Wars has been unsurprisingly renewed, and among the volunteers on Sea Shepherd’s campaign in the Antarctic will be Lost and Avatar actor Michelle Rodriguez, in addition to the winner of a YouTube contest. In a press release, the network said it had “signed on to follow the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s… continue reading
Whale Wars season three finale was Animal Planet’s most-watched episode ever
Whale Wars awesome two-hour finale on Friday, during which Pete Bethune snuck aboard the Shonan Maru #2 and surprised its crew while the helicopter–and the show’s camera’s–watched, was the highest rated regular telecast ever for Animal Planet among key demographics. The network said in a press release that it was number-one at 10 p.m. among… continue reading
Whale Wars delivers amazing TV again, illustrating real life better than most reality TV
Defying the general trajectory of reality TV shows, Whale Wars has been getting better and better as a TV series as it ages. From its heart-stopping tension–there’s a cliffhanger for nearly every commercial break–to the bewildering bumbling of the Sea Shepherds, it’s been a tremendous season, and the series unquestionably remains one of the best… continue reading