Whale Wars

***Whale Wars*** is an American documentary-style reality television series developed by Charlie Foley and produced by RIVR Media. It follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard their various vessels attempt to stop the killing of whales by Japanese vessels (whalers) off the coast of Antarctica. It aired for seven seasons on Animal Planet from 2008 to 2015.

The show came at a time when Animal Planet was being rebranded to attract broader audiences and compete with non-animal-centric programming. The series proved to be a hit and garnered high ratings for the network. A spin-off series, *Whale Wars: Viking Shores*, followed in 2012.

## Synopsis

For several years, Paul Watson's group of staff and volunteers have engaged in a campaign almost every winter to find and stop Japanese ships that hunt whales in the name of research, attempting to stop them by any non-violent means necessary. The eclectic group - labeled activists, heroes and/or eco-pirates - leave port in Melbourne, Australia for a two-month campaign that is dangerous, controversial and has garnered international media attention. Sea Shepherd's dedicated, international crew have spent their holiday the last several years and risked their lives at the bottom of the Earth to save whales.

Highlighting both the controversial whaling trade and the tactics that Sea Shepherd and its staff and volunteers use an attempt to cripple it, the series documents the group's three-month sojourn across the icy Antarctic waters at the far end of the globe.

## Episodes

Main article: *List of Whale Wars episodes*

## Reception

### Ratings

*Whale Wars* has garnered high ratings for the network. Within its second week, the series delivered more than 1.1 million viewers, the network's best performing Friday primetime telecast in five years. This earned it a 0.9 household rating and an eighty percent increase in viewers from 0.8 rating made by the series debut the previous week. Moreover, it helped Animal Planet tie in eighth place in the top ten add-supported cable networks. The season finale drew in more than 1 million viewers and helped the network tie for ninth place among all ad-supported cable networks in the 9 PM hour, and tying with the season premiere for a 0.8 household rating, and ending the season as the network's most watched series ever.

The second season premiere drew in nearly 1.2 million viewers, a viewership that more than doubled the premiere from the previous season. As a result, *Whale Wars*, alongside fellow series *River Monsters*, pushed Animal Planet to be among the top five networks among men aged 25-54. The season finale made a record of 1.3 million viewers, becoming the series' most watched episode thus far and set viewership records and helped the network to rank third among all cable networks in the 9 PM hour and the show among the top five cable programs in terms of P25-54 delivery excluding movies and sports.

For its third season, the first four episodes delivered more than 1.1 million viewers, seven percent more than the previous two seasons. The episode "Stealth Attack" became the second most watched episode at the time with a 1.3 million viewer rating, trailing just behind the season two finale. The episode "Sliced in Two" became the show's highest-rated episode ever with a 1.3 household rating on a delivery of 1.7 million viewers. This overall made by the third season the most watched of the series' run.

The season four premiere episode, "Battle Cry", was the most-watched opener of the series, pulling in 1.27 million viewers and helped rank Animal Planet among the top three among ad-supported cable networks and posting delivery gains compared to the season three premiere. The fourth season overall averaged over 1.0 million viewers, ranking the show among one of the network's most watched series.

### Critical

*Whale Wars* has garnered a mostly positive reception. While discussing the high ratings, the president and general manager of Animal Planet said that the show was "a great example of where we wanted to go into competitive adult TV." Review aggregation site Metacritic has scored *Whale Wars* 71 out of 100 based on 6 reviews. Neil Genzlinger of the *New York Times* wrote: "*Whale Wars* splashes across the increasingly exhausted genre of people-at-work reality series like icy seawater, jolting you awake with a frothy, briny burst of - well, you get the idea. This is one spunky crew."

The show has also been criticized for being biased, and the Sea Shepherd has been ridiculed. Nancy Dewolf Smith of *The Wall Street Journal* wrote: "What is shocking at first is how unprepared most of these people are for their self-appointed mission as planet savers. Although the word "deadly" is used often to underscore the risks the crew face, along out in the wild Antarctic seas - their own incompetence can seem the most frightening." The satirists of *South Park* spoofed the show and the Japanese whalers in the 11th episode of Season 13, "Whale Whores". David Hickley of the New York *Daily News* wrote: "Because the cameras obviously operate from the conservation ship - named the Sea Shepherd and, for this voyage, also called the Steve Irwin - we get all the drama on this and virtually none of the other." Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet, says that they have requested access to the Japanese ships for filming but have repeatedly been declined.