Why I hate TV

Animal planet airs some of the most ridiculous garbage I have seen put on TV. Their new show 'Whale Wars' ranks alongside what I deem the top five least intelligent shows - hanging right in there with (insert lame celebrity) of Love, The Hills, Real Housewives of (insert relevant location), and The O'Reilly Factor.

The premise of the show is that a group of activists on the Steve Irwin 'Sea Shepherd' are doing their part to stop 'illegal whaling'. In reality, however, these activists are engaging ships that are INTERNATIONALLY approved to be whaling. Albeit for scientific reasons, the harvesting is not disallowed. In fact, whaling is not 'illegal' in any country per se. The official stance is that they (countries in the International Whaling Committee or IWC) have put whaling under moratorium until they can find the most efficient way to whale without decreasing the population to extinction.

Following is an excerpt from http://www.iwcoffice.org/commission/iwcmain.htm the IWC website, which states its purposes clearly:

"Whales, like any other animal population, have a natural capacity for increase and a natural rate of mortality. A stock remains more or less in equilibrium at its initial level because these two factors balance one another. If the number of whales in a stock is reduced then recruitment increases, possibly as a result of greater food availability, by higher pregnancy rates, earlier maturation, increased survival rates or a combination of these factors.

In 1975, a new management policy for whales was adopted by the IWC based on these characteristics. This was designed to bring all stocks to the levels providing the greatest long-term harvests, by setting catch limits for individual stocks below their sustainable yields.

However, because of uncertainties in the scientific analyses (in part due to the difficulty in obtaining the complex data required) and therefore the precise status of the various whale stocks, the IWC decided at its meeting in 1982 that there should be a pause (the ‘moratorium’) in commercial whaling on all whale stocks from 1985/86.

A Revised Management Procedure (RMP) has been developed subsequently, which the Commission accepted and endorsed in 1994 but has yet to implement. This balances the somewhat conflicting requirements to ensure that the risk to individual stocks is not seriously increased, while allowing the highest continuing yield. It is an important step in the development of wildlife resource management in that it takes into account the inevitable scientific uncertainty and requires only relatively simple to obtain information (knowledge of population size, past and present catches, and stock identity)." (bold added)

Now I could be wrong in thinking that these guys are just a bunch of fanatics wishing they could have the conviction to be martyred for something important- but then they are the ones blatantly lying to the public about their actions by saying that Japanese whalers are performing illegal activities. What sickens me is that the crew of the Steve Irwin have taken the name of a decent man and absolutely smeared it, by taking irresponsible, childish, and dangerous actions that is comparable to terrorism.

Following are some clips from Sea Shepherd activities.

Sea Shepherd getting crew members onto a whaling ship:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxk56ZEQSoE&feature=related

Same crew members handed over to Australian authorities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD1YfSMBxWo&feature=related

Sea Shepherd collecting longlines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEjOBEEWcT0&feature=related

Whale Wars advertisement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZ9o84AgqU

One quick note - in the video collecting longlines he says that longlining is highly illegal. He is wrong- in the Galapagos there is no law against longlining.

I personally don't have an investment in whaling or not whaling. I do think that Animal Planet is glorifying childish harrassment and overlooking all the legal facts, which is disgusting. I don't care what the issue is, to portray it in an absolutely false light as if it is true and righteous and good is a travesty and completely lacking of integrity.

Now no matter which side you stand on you should go get educated, and get your opinion out there to whoever matters.

To encourage or disparage Animal Planet for airing Whale Wars, check out their forums:
http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/6701997099

To email policy makers and representatives about actually changing the legality of this or not, once again I direct you to:
http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html (that's a good one to bookmark)