Saturday, December 24, 2011

Whale Wars on Animal Planet following the icy exploits of the Sea Shepherd, renewed for a 5th season.



Whale Wars on Animal Planet (DStv 264) produced by The Lizard Trading Company has been renewed for a 5th season.

The docu-reality drama follows the exploits of Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in the icy Antarctic waters where the crew battle Japanese whalers. The 5th season of Whale Wars will start in America in June 2012.

The latest campaign called Operation Divine Wind is the Sea Shepherd's eighth whale defense campaign, and features three ships with a crew of nearly 100 international volunteers aboard the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Brigitte Bardot ships.

''Whale Wars has been groundbreaking and riveting television, because each side is willing to risk it all in the Southern Ocean," says Marjorie Kaplan, the president and general manager of Animal Planet in a press release. ''Last year, we all thought the Sea Shepherds had ended whaling but now they are once again preparing to risk much for what they believe in."

''It makes little political or economic sense for the Japanese fleet to return to whale in the Antarctic waters," says Captain Paul Watson. "But it appears their motivation has shifted from hunting whales to refusing to surrender to Sea Shepherd."