gCaptain mariners have been critical of Captain Paul Watson and his crew of non-professional mariners, stars of the reality TV show [I]Whale Wars[/I]. Most of the comments posted to gCaptain’s forum have been sympathetic to Sea Shepherd’s mission, th… Click HERE to read the full blog article.
They have guts, no question, but it would make me feel better if there was a bit more experience amongst the crew. Most working merchant ships have a broad range of sea time from the green deckhand/OS to the old school AB or mate. Over time the Steve Irwin crew may come up to speed but it is scary as “the hot place” to watch some of their operations. Serious injury or death at sea, to anyone, makes me cringe.
Personally I think they look like a bunch of idiots and they are an embarrassment to the professional maritime world. I think what they are doing is insane! Ok, you disagree with the harvesting of whales, fine. But does that give you the right to set out to cause serious damage/harm to their vessels? Not to mention to the lives of their crew? Hell no! If it was me on one of those japanese ships I’d be shooting RPG’s and AK47’s at them…
I have worked 50NM south of the North Pole on a R/V (Ice Breaker) and it is no place for unqualified and unexperienced “sailors” (I use the word sailors loosely). These guys are wreckless and have no regard for SOLAS or good seamanship, but man I enjoy the hell out of that show. We watch it on the mess deck during duty days and when we are U/W during meals sometimes…it brings hours of enjoyment and laughter!