Whale Wars was a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel.

[3] Sea Shepherd has been both criticized and praised for tactics of direct action sabotage which include throwing stink bombs of butyric acid, as well as ramming, boarding, and otherwise attempting to disable the Japanese vessels.

[4] The program premiered on November 7, 2008, on the Animal Planet cable channel and follows events on the vessel MY Steve Irwin as the group attempts to deter the hunting of minke, humpback and fin whales in the Southern Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and North Atlantic.

[8][12][13] On April 9, first mate Peter Brown was described in a newspaper article as saying that the incident only became a hostage situation because the Sea Shepherd vessel left the scene, so the Japanese would be forced to hold the two crewmen longer.

"[14] On March 3, Sea Shepherd members threw bottles of butyric acid and packages of slippery methyl cellulose powder onto the Japanese vessel Nisshin Maru.

"[18] The statement also reiterated earlier IWC resolutions from May and July 2007 that read in part, "The commission and its contracting governments do not condone and in fact condemn any actions that are a risk to human life and property in relation to the activities of vessels at sea.

[26] On December 4, 2008, actress Daryl Hannah joined Sea Shepherd's crew aboard the Steve Irwin to take part in this season's operation.

2 as the Steve Irwin tried to block its attempt to prevent the transfer of a dead whale up the slipway of the factory ship Nisshin Maru.

[32] At the start of the campaign, Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet, said in a news release: "The issues surrounding whaling in the Southern Ocean are important and complex.

The eco-friendly vessel usually ran on a low emission fuel "derived mainly from animal fat, soybeans or other forms of bio-diesel"[36] but was forced by operational reasons to switch to petroleum diesel.

What they kept secret, however, was that Bob Barker, famous for "The Price Is Right" and one of the best-known personalities in the world of animal activism, donated funds to purchase a third vessel to add to the Sea Shepherd's fleet.

The ship sailed back to Japan, where Bethune was detained by the Japanese Coast Guard for boarding a vessel without due, illegal possession of a knife, destruction of property, assault, and obstruction of business.

The campaign included a new interceptor vessel joining the Sea Shepherd fleet – MV Gojira (or Godzilla) – replacing the role of the Ady Gil.

[42][43] Sea Shepherd pilot Chris Aultman also received a larger, faster, and longer range MD 500 5-seat helicopter to replace his previous aircraft, a 3-seat Sikorsky S-300.

On September 20, 2012 Paul Watson began marshaling resources for another campaign named 'Zero Tolerance', which was launched in November 2012 and lasted into March 2013.

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".

[52] 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.

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.

When Stan Marsh takes command of the ship, a fictional news headline states: "Whale Wars Gets Better: Things Actually Happen!

"[55][56][57][58] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News wrote: "Because the cameras obviously operate from the conservation ship ... we get all the drama on this side and virtually none on the other.

"[59] 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.