I don’t know if you’ve actually seen the show or maybe just the previews, but if you haven’t, I’d suggest giving it a watch. “Whale Wares” is Animal Planet’s new riveting tale of a boat full of hippies taking on the world’s whale hunters. It’s filmed alot like Discovery Network’s other colossal seafaring show called “Deadliest Catch”.

Here’s the gist of what’s going on out there, while you sleep comfortably in your bed:

Apparently although whaling as an commercial industry was banned back in 1986. There is now international law which prevents commercial whaling companies from harvesting whales for profit. The one thing though is that there is a stipulation in the law which allows research firms to harvest up to 900+ whales per  year for various types of research such as migration pattersns, tissue samples, or anything you might want to research about whales. So it is still legal to kill and harvest whales. The whaling laws go one step further by saying that no part of a whale harvested in the name of science can be put to waste, therefore it is still legal to sell harvested whales on the open market.

Apparently a whale can be worth anywhere from $250,000 up to $1,000,000 depending on the size and viable meat, blubber, etc… So there is a big profit to be made on the biggest mammals known to man. To make the profit, these companies kill the whales in the name of science, but process and sell virtually all of the whale for profit. It’s a loophole technicality, but it’s 100% completely legal. I absolutely do not believe these companies should be allowed to carry on like this. The law definitely needs changed.

While I believe the problem is with the laws surrounding this “industry”, I don’t think you should be able to do what the hippy protestors are doing either. On the other side of the “war” are two rivaling groups: Greenpeace and The Sea Shepherds. The show revolves around the latter, so I’ll explain what they do.

The “Sea Shepherds” have taken it upon themselves to uphold the whaling laws on the high seas of Antarctica. They believe these companies are violating the law by harvesting whales at all. Where Greenpeace harasses the boat by cruising up near the ship and taking film footage and still photos of what’s going on for the world to see, the Sea Shepherd take things further. In addition to capturing media collateral, they also assault the vessel in various ways.

One of the things they do on this show is get up close in small boats and start throwing “stink bombs” for a lack of better word. I don’t remember the chemical name or composition they said, but apparently the odor is so foul, it forces the crew of the whaling vessel below decks to avoid the stench. The other effect these chemical bombs have is that it taints all the harvested whale meat it comes in contact with. While the chemicals are not harmful to humans, throwing them from one ship to another in international waters is an act of aggression which is also a violation of international maritime law.

The second weapon the hippies use is cellulose powder. It’s 100% non toxic, but it’s job is not to poison the crew or taint the harvest. The cellulose poweder, when mixed with water turns into an extremely viscous slime, which coats the decks of the boat and makes walking surfaces unpassable. It sounds to me like these cellulose grenades are intended to do harm to the people on board. Again, this is an act of aggression, and from what I know about maritime law, constitutes a crime.

Finally, the hippies try to deploy a snag line out in front of the bow of the ship. Essentially what they hope to do is tangle a wire rope in the propellers of the ship. Now, if this isn’t property damage, I don’t know what is. Boating is a pastime in my family, and I know what ropes or cables snagged in the propeller of a boat can do. These hippies are trying to keep the ship immobile so they can’t keep whaling.

There are other things they do beyond deploying weapons. The episode I saw today had the crew of the “Steve Irwin” - the hippy vessel - putting two of their vegan (yes, they’re all vegans, of course) protestors on board the whaling ship. The mission was to deliver a hand-written, self-appointed ”warrent” ordering them to cease and desist their activities in accordance with international law. What happened on the ship when they got there? Well they were detained for unlawfully boarding a ship, which as it happens is no different than invading a country, since the boat is an extension of the country which ports it.

The first thing the hippies did when their crew members were detained was cry “hostage”. That’s right, they dropped off two of their people and withdrew their small boat, leaving them there, then complained that the people they sent onto the ship were now hostages. What sort of crap is that? If you shoot someone with a bullet, can you honestly say the person you shot stole your bullet? Isn’t it essentially the same thing? The Sea Shepherds made an aggresive move and the whalers defended themselves.

I guess the problem I have with these sea hippies is that you’re attacking the wrong “enemy”. The people who are operating within a crappy law are not the problems. The problem is the crappy law. Attack the people who allow whale hunting for profit to keep happening. Take your complaint to the U.N.’s court of international justice and fight it legally in court, because assaulting and seizing a whaling ship and it’s crew is against the law, whereas the whalers are not in violation.

I can’t stress this enough: liberals don’t respect the law. They want laws which suit and benefit them. If no law exists, they want it. If a law exists which is a detriment to them, they will defy it and claim it’s an unfair law, so they don’t need to be in compliance. Um, see “proposition 8″ in California for my proof.

The bottom line is, I don’t think people ought to be harvesting whales for profit if it detrimental to the healthy population of whales in our oceans. I think the law needs changed for sure. I also thing that resorting to piracy is wrong, and if I am the captain of a whaling ship at any point in my life, and I am operating within the letter of the law when I see your protest boat, look out, because I’m affixing gun turrets to my ship, and the last thing your hippie ears will hear is Boom.