| The Whale Warriors |
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| Sunday, 18 May 2008 | |
 In December 2005, award-winning adventure
writer, Peter Heller, decided to join a pirate ship. At Melbourne docks, the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society’s old Farley Mowat was being overhauled. Its captain, Paul
Watson, and his crew of 43 multinational eco-crusaders were preparing to scour Antarctica in pursuit of their foe, the Japanese whaling
fleet.
In defiance of the global moratorium on commercial whaling, the Japanese awarded themselves a ‘scientific’ permit and, under the guise of ‘research’, persist in hunting whales every year. Greenpeace monitors the whalers but Watson, a founder member of Greenpeace (whom he now describes as ‘Quakers with attitude’), is determined to stop them. An eco-terrorist and lunatic to some, a saviour and saint to others, Watson asserts that any day saving a whale is a good day to die. His crew use weapons like propeller foulers and long steel blades called ‘can openers’ to disable the whalers. Peter Heller, who arrives with journalistic objectivity intact, finally comes down firmly on the side of the Sea Shepherds, arguing: ‘If the oceans are dying in our time and we kill them, which is what we are doing, we shall have committed a crime so heinous we shall not ever be redeemed.’ A ripping yarn, with thrills, spills, storms, a chase, an evil foe, a mole, a great love affair, plus a crew of vegan heroes – The Whale Warriors has it all. 10/10.
The Whale Warriors WORDS: Sue Jackson |
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