++WHALE WARS++

The official group of show "WHALE WARS" on Discovery Networks Europe. For several years, Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have engaged in a campaign 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. In 1986, Japan withdrew its opposition to the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling. The following year, Japan announced a large-scale scientific whaling program designed to assess whale stocks. Their goal? A resumption of commercial whaling with set, sustainable limits. Many experts have questioned the scientific validity of this program, suggesting that Japan's research is nothing more than a front for continued whaling. Japan maintains that its methods are sound. Japan's scienfitic whaling program continues to this day; in fact, it has grown considerably. Activist groups like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claim that Japan's whaling practices violate international law. Japan claims the direct-action tactics of Sea Shepherd are illegal, in essence a form of eco-terrorism.