We would like to congratulate Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet on a fantastic staged event for television - perhaps one of the best staged disaster moments of 2010.As production people ourselves we know the hazards and very real dangers of staging live disasters for television. It's a highly technical world only professionals can effectively operate in.
Multi-million dollar staged disasters are often canceled at the last minute due to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) non-compliance or studio fears of death and dismemberment. Sea Shepherd on the other hand have found a way to circumvent all of the requirements for staged disaster television by only allowing volunteer crews and staging the events against non-paid, non-union, Japanese whalers.
By-passing all clean environmental requirements for television productions by producing this man made disaster in the Antarctic ocean was another master stroke. The clean up of several thousand gallons of bio diesel spilled by the Ady Gil and retrieval of the vessel from the sea floor would have cost Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars Productions millions if this disaster had been filmed in the USA.
Brilliant!
Managing to move Sea Shepherds $2 million dollar vessel Ady Gil into the path of Japanese whalers was a quirk of nautical timing by a seasoned captain who knew his vessel and the direction wind, waves, and engines were carrying it. Catching the whole thing on video from the Bob Barker at just the right angle was pure reality television.
We were doubly impressed with the witty and show branding quote from SSCS Paul Watson immediately after the stunt, "Now we're in a Real Whale War!" reminding the global audience that this is, after all, Must See TV!
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have clearly evolved from earlier staged productions such as Paul Watsons being shot by Japanese whalers. In terms of production quality and emotional leverage that earlier staged event was not one of the top three of the 2007 reality television season.
Kudos to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson, and Animal Planet for once again bravely leading the way into a new decade of reality television firsts. The televised disaster staging they have created together keeps getting better and better, and their complete and ongoing circumvention of all production norms and safety regulations allows their organization to literally shoot-for-the-moon.
We're looking forward to more man made disasters in the coming months!
More on Sea Shepherd Conservation Society here.
19 comments:
Do I detect a tiny little hint of sarcasm?
NICE! :D
ps - my silly 2 cents worth on the matter...
Bravo. Just bravo. I spent all week trying to come up with a clever way to discuss this incident that was more than a tired re-hashing of the failure that is SSCS. Insightful, thought-provoking, and pretty damn funny to boot. Keep up the good work.
You've got to be kidding right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLdUISE3e8c
Have you even looked at that?
Everyone is entitled to an opinion... But yours is based on stupidity - lol!
We blended two ounces of Italian sarcasm from the hills of Maltipucino, harvested by monks under a full August moon, with one ounce of Irish whit, and a full serving of "steamed schadenfreude."
A truly international post if you ask us.
Spilling all that oil and fuel did it for me. I have pulled my support from SSCS.
I cannot fathom how they could do something THAT stupid and damaging.
We dumped them this week as well, we were all for stopping whaling but spilling toxic oil and fuel into the waters for a reality tv show?
Jesus that's just f#$%cked up!
Who are these people anymore and what happened to SSCS?
Hooray for this blog i am asking why the major media have been gobbling up the sscs spoon fed eco garbage for the past week and for the life of me i cannot fathom why no one has called them to account for this travesty.
keep up the great work at least someone is asking questions!
How can they (SSCS) dump thousands of gallons of fuel into the ocean and call that conservation?
It's not likely that they spilled 100's of gallons of diesel, but what ever small amount that was left on the tanks will none the less leave an impression of a major oil spill.
What bugs me more is that they left the Ady Gil to sink in the SO just beccause recovering the wreck would take to much time and focus away form their whale war..
As in also "not likely"
1. SSCS lied about Watson being shot?
2. SSCS rammed a whaler last year and blamed it on Japan?
3. SSCS lied about saving whales at a recent stranding event?
4. SSCS lied about overall effective saved whale numbers?
5. SSCS lied about losing a $2 million dollar vessel in Canada?
We could go on but what IS likely is the fact they polluted the ocean for a cheap media stunt to "save whales."
I am sure the whales who are currently dealing with diesel and oil debris in their eyes and blowholes are THRILLED about the completely unlikely "save the whales campaign" that is Whale Wars.
Nice going Paul Watson and crew.
Oh, and these are the same clowns who are trying to get into the shark business.
God help the sharks.
I personally loved whale wars 1 & 2 as a friend catagorized it "An unabashed homage to Hans Molemans man getting hit by a football" The part in S2 when his crew believe the Japanese have a whale the rush below for the Cpt after a glance through his glasses he states thats not a whale and returns below followed seconds later by "It is a whale" i laughed so hard i had to rewind three or four minutes.
Question would i get into trouble if i threw glass bottles of harmless non toxic bio-degradable water at the Australian embassy to protest the over catch of blue fin tuna (which they export to Japan)
There is a lot of talk about Peter Bethune right now so here is an authentic ( one of many ) emails which was in my in box today. A good read.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject:
Sea Shepherd Update - Three Cheers for Captain Peter Bethune
Date:
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:49:50 +0000
Three Cheers for Captain Peter Bethune
On board the Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Steve Irwin the international crew of 73 toasted one of their crewmates presently detained onboard the Japanese whale killing ship Shonan Maru #2.
“Here’s to Peter, defender of the whales and oceanic knight extraordinaire.” Was the cry. “Three cheers for the skipper of the Ady Gil. Three cheers to Captain Peter Bethune.”
Captain Peter Bethune is a bona fide modern day New Zealand hero. Not only is he the world record holder for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth, he is also New Zealand’s most courageous defenders of the whales.
The Japanese whalers presently have Captain Bethune detained on the Japanese harpoon vessel Shonan Maru #2. They plan to haul him back in chains to Japan and to charge him with piracy after they sank his record breaking vessel and nearly killed five of his crew and himself.
Where is the outrage on the part of the New Zealand government?
This man is a hero in the same vein as Sir Edmund Hillary. He is a world maritime record holder, an incredible sailor and a dedicated conservationist, a family man with two children and an inspiration and a legend in the world of motor yachting.
This should tear at your heart strings , extracts from a Paul Watson email, authentic and full of Watson BS praise naturally.
----------------------------------
Captain Bethune set his record breaking achievement with one of the most fuel efficient ocean going vessels ever designed and he circumnavigated the world using only bio-fuel.
When Captain Bethune first approached Captain Paul Watson last year with an offer to sell the Earthrace to Sea Shepherd to oppose the Japanese, he threw into the bargain his time and his skills as the skipper of that famous boat.
The Earthrace was renamed the Ady Gil in recognition of the one million dollars Mr. Ady Gil of Los Angeles donated towards the purchase of the vessel.
When Captain Watson asked Captain Bethune why he wanted Sea Shepherd to have the Earthrace, and why he wanted to skipper the vessel he told him, “Because I’m a Kiwi and the Japanese whalers have no right to be killing off our whales in our waters under the pretense of science. I want to do my part.”
Well this year, Captain Peter Bethune has done more than his part. He skippered the Ady Gil to the Southern Ocean and disrupted illegal Japanese whaling operations so efficiently that the Japanese security vessel Shonan Maru #2 decided to deliberately destroy the legendary vessel by intentionally ramming it causing it to sink.
Captain Bethune decided to confront the man who destroyed his ship and almost took his life so he boarded the Shonan Maru #2 breaching the security of the very vessel in charge of the security for the Japanese fleet. He boarded the ship in a Mission Impossible manner, under the cover of darkness onto a fast moving vessel and by passing a dangerous anti boarding network of sharp spikes and netting, and he was on the vessel for an hour and a half before presenting himself to the crew. The reason he waited was for daylight, so that the Sea Shepherd helicopter could document the operation.
Captain Bethune handed the Shonan Maru #2 captain a letter stating he was there to conduct a citizens arrest of the skipper for deliberately ramming and sinking his ship and endangering the lives of his crew. He also handed the skipper an invoice for three million dollars for the replacement cost of the Ady Gil.
*
-------- Original Message --------
EXTRACTS FROM A WATSON EMAIL. A GOOD READ.
Date:
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:49:50 +0000
From:
Paul
Three Cheers for Captain Peter Bethune
On board the Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Steve Irwin the international crew of 73 toasted one of their crewmates presently detained onboard the Japanese whale killing ship Shonan Maru #2.
“Here’s to Peter, defender of the whales and oceanic knight extraordinaire.” Was the cry. “Three cheers for the skipper of the Ady Gil. Three cheers to Captain Peter Bethune.”
Captain Peter Bethune is a bona fide modern day New Zealand hero. Not only is he the world record holder for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth, he is also New Zealand’s most courageous defenders of the whales.
The Japanese whalers presently have Captain Bethune detained on the Japanese harpoon vessel Shonan Maru #2. They plan to haul him back in chains to Japan and to charge him with piracy after they sank his record breaking vessel and nearly killed five of his crew and himself.
Where is the outrage on the part of the New Zealand government?
This man is a hero in the same vein as Sir Edmund Hillary.
When Captain Bethune first approached Captain Paul Watson last year with an offer to sell the Earthrace to Sea Shepherd to oppose the Japanese, he threw into the bargain his time and his skills as the skipper of that famous boat.
The Earthrace was renamed the Ady Gil in recognition of the one million dollars Mr. Ady Gil of Los Angeles donated towards the purchase of the vessel.
When Captain Watson asked Captain Bethune why he wanted Sea Shepherd to have the Earthrace, and why he wanted to skipper the vessel he told him, “Because I’m a Kiwi and the Japanese whalers have no right to be killing off our whales in our waters under the pretense of science. I want to do my part.”
He skippered the Ady Gil to the Southern Ocean and disrupted illegal Japanese whaling operations so efficiently that the Japanese security vessel Shonan Maru #2 decided to deliberately destroy the legendary vessel by intentionally ramming it causing it to sink.
Undaunted, Captain Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru #2 breaching the security of the very vessel in charge of the security for the Japanese fleet. He boarded the ship in a Mission Impossible manner, under the cover of darkness onto a fast moving vessel and by passing a dangerous anti boarding network of sharp spikes and netting, and he was on the vessel for an hour and a half before presenting himself to the crew. The reason he waited was for daylight, so that the Sea Shepherd helicopter could document the operation.
Captain Bethune handed the Shonan Maru #2 captain a letter stating he was there to conduct a citizens arrest of the skipper for deliberately ramming and sinking his ship and endangering the lives of his crew. He also handed the skipper an invoice for three million dollars for the replacement cost of the Ady Gil.
The Japanese government is saying they will be charging Captain Bethune with injuring three Japanese crew on the Shonan Maru #2 on February 11th with rotten butter, a substance that the Japanese always refer to as acid despite the fact that it is organic, non-toxic and non-irritating. The Sea Shepherd website has the video evidence that shows the three Japanese crew suffered from self inflicted injuries when they fired pepper spray into the wind and it blew back into their faces.
EXTRACTS FROM A WATSON EMAIL. A GOOD READ.
Three Cheers for Captain Peter Bethune
On board the Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and Steve Irwin the international crew of 73 toasted one of their crewmates presently detained onboard the Japanese whale killing ship Shonan Maru #2.
“Here’s to Peter, defender of the whales and oceanic knight extraordinaire.” Was the cry. “Three cheers for the skipper of the Ady Gil. Three cheers to Captain Peter Bethune.”
The Japanese whalers presently have Captain Bethune detained on the Japanese harpoon vessel Shonan Maru #2. They plan to haul him back in chains to Japan and to charge him with piracy after they sank his record breaking vessel and nearly killed five of his crew and himself.
Where is the outrage on the part of the New Zealand government?
This man is a hero in the same vein as Sir Edmund Hillary
Undaunted, Captain Bethune decided to confront the man who destroyed his ship and almost took his life so he boarded the Shonan Maru #2 breaching the security of the very vessel in charge of the security for the Japanese fleet. He boarded the ship in a Mission Impossible manner, under the cover of darkness onto a fast moving vessel and by passing a dangerous anti boarding network of sharp spikes and netting, and he was on the vessel for an hour and a half before presenting himself to the crew. The reason he waited was for daylight, so that the Sea Shepherd helicopter could document the operation.
Captain Bethune handed the Shonan Maru #2 captain a letter stating he was there to conduct a citizens arrest of the skipper for deliberately ramming and sinking his ship and endangering the lives of his crew. He also handed the skipper an invoice for three million dollars for the replacement cost of the Ady Gil.
The Japanese government is saying they will be charging Captain Bethune with injuring three Japanese crew on the Shonan Maru #2 on February 11th with rotten butter, a substance that the Japanese always refer to as acid despite the fact that it is organic, non-toxic and non-irritating.
PART TWO OF SAID EMAIL.
Captain Bethune set his record breaking achievement with one of the most fuel efficient ocean going vessels ever designed and he circumnavigated the world using only bio-fuel.
When Captain Bethune first approached Captain Paul Watson last year with an offer to sell the Earthrace to Sea Shepherd to oppose the Japanese, he threw into the bargain his time and his skills as the skipper of that famous boat.
The Earthrace was renamed the Ady Gil in recognition of the one million dollars Mr. Ady Gil of Los Angeles donated towards the purchase of the vessel.
When Captain Watson asked Captain Bethune why he wanted Sea Shepherd to have the Earthrace, and why he wanted to skipper the vessel he told him, “Because I’m a Kiwi and the Japanese whalers have no right to be killing off our whales in our waters under the pretense of science. I want to do my part.”
PART THREE OF SAID EMAIL.
Well this year, Captain Peter Bethune has done more than his part. He skippered the Ady Gil to the Southern Ocean and disrupted illegal Japanese whaling operations so efficiently that the Japanese security vessel Shonan Maru #2 decided to deliberately destroy the legendary vessel by intentionally ramming it causing it to sink.
The collision nearly killed Captain Bethune and five of his crew.
Undaunted, Captain Bethune decided to confront the man who destroyed his ship and almost took his life so he boarded the Shonan Maru #2 breaching the security of the very vessel in charge of the security for the Japanese fleet. He boarded the ship in a Mission Impossible manner, under the cover of darkness onto a fast moving vessel and by passing a dangerous anti boarding network of sharp spikes and netting, and he was on the vessel for an hour and a half before presenting himself to the crew. The reason he waited was for daylight, so that the Sea Shepherd helicopter could document the operation.
Captain Bethune handed the Shonan Maru #2 captain a letter stating he was there to conduct a citizens arrest of the skipper for deliberately ramming and sinking his ship and endangering the lives of his crew. He also handed the skipper an invoice for three million dollars for the replacement cost of the Ady Gil.
PART FOUR ETC...
The Japanese government is saying they will be charging Captain Bethune with injuring three Japanese crew on the Shonan Maru #2 on February 11th with rotten butter, a substance that the Japanese always refer to as acid despite the fact that it is organic, non-toxic and non-irritating. The Sea Shepherd website has the video evidence that shows the three Japanese crew suffered from self inflicted injuries when they fired pepper spray into the wind and it blew back into their faces.
“Peter Bethune places his body where it counts” “Said Captain Paul Watson. “On the front line, and he will go where he needs to go to defend the whales, be it in the path of the harpoons, on board a whaling ship or all the way back to Japan if need be. He is not one of those timid souls who whine about an injustice, he is a man who acts to right a wrong and to defend the defenseless from the remorseless. He is a hero of the first order and I am proud that he is fighting for the whales along side of us with the resolve of a Viking and the kind heart of a man who cares what kind of world will be bequeathed to his children.”
Not a single whale has been killed during the last two weeks. Sea Shepherd is severely cutting the kill quota and costing the whalers tens of millions of dollars.
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