The Whale Warriors

I ordered this book for my Kindle 2 and have been engrossed in it since the first page.This book isn't the love-fest one supposes. The author, while not understanding the rationalization for whaling, does express mutilple concerns with regard to the safety of the crew and others on the Oceans with them. And he's got valid points.Let me start by saying that the mammals of the water have been my favorite animals since childhood. I abhor their mistreatment and celebrate their majesty. As a woman of Christian faith, I am of the mindset that the animals of the ocean are in tune with the miracle of Creation and the Creator, as are all other animals. I'm of the opinion that hunting should not be a sport, but for sustenance needs. If you kill it, you eat it, or wear it because there was nothing else around to wear. Period. And any hunting should be a fair fight. If you're bringing a high tech weapon to fight an animal who is pretty much defenseless against it, you haven't got the skills to go sustenance hunting anyway.Therefore, the current position on whaling doesn't make much sense to me when we have so many resources for food in the 21st century. This isn't indigenous sustenance (which I don't really have a problem with). This is several big buck countries continuing a tradition that doesn't even seem cost effective.Having said that, I love biographies about charismatic leaders and the people who give up everything to follow them. This book is an interesting psychological study of one man with a history of a troubled childhood on a mission to punish a group of humans for their violence against defenseless animals. One cannot tell if he's at war with the whalers or the past.And that's why this book is so frightening in so many parts. Seeing graphic descriptions of how the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society harbors some volunteers who openly verbally HATE humanity on every level puts new perspective on their actions. Some of the crew seems not to be coming from a place of love of nature, but from a hatred of humans, for whatever reason. How are you going to protect the human next to you on the Sea Shepherd boat if you really just hate all humans?It's creepy to read the quotes in so many parts of the book wishing that all humans would be killed, all meat eaters shot, etc. The crew on this ship are reminding me a little too much of the guy from Grizzly Man. There are folks in this book who would hate me just for having had two children. It's almost a little culty.Captain Watson and his crew have been called racists by whaling proponents, namely, Japanese and Native population whalers. To be sure, there is an air of superiority in their conversations, but it seems to be equal opportunity condescension. The dialogue attacks many groups and elevates animals to almost benevolent deity status; a status that I cannot understand as animals are complex enough to have their own social issues and mores, some of which aren't that nice. Just like human animals.This book has raised more questions for me than answers. Namely, I'm really concerned about the Sea Shepherd tactics with regard to what they do to other boats. My concern isn't just for the other boats, but for the whales. If a Japanese whaling boat goes down in the Ocean after having propellers messed with, or having been rammed by another boat; what happens to the fuel it was carrying? Yes, they aren't whaling then, but what are the pollutants doing? What happens to the things on the boat that are toxic for the Oceans? What happens to the wildlife in the area? What happens if the Sea Shepherd boat goes down? And what are we doing about the pushing of marine mammals to extinction? Don't they deserve earth as well?The book is a study in contradictions, written masterfully by someone who knows he's in over his head as soon as they're on the open ocean. I still don't have any answers about this problem. The book recently allowed me to open up a meaningful dialogue with a co-worker who is an active animal rights activist and vegan. Surpise, we had more in common with regard to animal rights than we had opposed. It prompts conversation, which is a wonderful thing.

Heller's book, The Whale Warriors, is much more graphic than the normal non-fiction work. I've long been an ardent supporter of environmental organizations, including Greenpeace. I guess I missed the transition wne Greenpeace became more of a "suits" organization, and the real work of fighting whalers, striving to protect these incredible animals, had fallen to a more direct-action organization, Sea Shepherd. This is the story of a cruise by the organization's ship, the "Farley Mowat" into the dangerous waters of Antarctica in pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet.Curious that much of the early history of the United States is woven around the voyages of whaling ships and their crews, but in clear prose, Heller documents the atrocities committed against an ancient, sentient species.Read this story and you'll be clicking on the website for "Sea Shepherd," and pulling out your wallet for a donation. Or for Trumpistas, maybe selling slots on a whaling cruise.In any case, unless civilized nations ban together to eliminate this barbaric practice, whales, orangutans and many other sentient species will bedding eternal farewell to our planet.

I just bought this book because I support the ideals and actions of Captain Paul Watson.I have seen the awesome documentary: Whale Wars - Season 1 which makes me realize how very important it would be to safe the gentle giants of our southern ocean from pain, suffering and being mercilessly killed by the Japanese whalers. These are cruel people...! There is no need to hunt the whales for food because there are other proteins and seafood substitudes available for chomping. There is no need to LIE and DECEIVE the world under the pretext of hunting the whales for FALSE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH by these Japanese...! Japan's insistence and persistence in hunting these innocent whales should be condemned by all whale lovers, environmentalists and natural conservationists all over the world. I wish the courageous Captain Paul Watson and his crew success, safety and good luck in protecting the whales which belong to all mankind. And he and his members are doing COMMENDABLE WORK which we must constantly support. And I look forward with excitement to read this book about Paul's exploits and to safeguard for the gentle whales. MAY PAUL'S MISSIONS BE ALWAYS SUCCESSFUL & BLESS BY GOD. Cheers...!

If I was younger, I'd be a Sea Shepherd. A great account of an amazing adventure with Sea Shepherds. The author is very talented and isn't afraid to put himself at risk to get the story. I also enjoy his fiction work very much.

I chose this book as my husband loves whales, The Sea Shepherd Society,Paul Watson, etc. I heard this author discuss this book briefly while discussing his more recent book and knew immediately my husband would love it. It was a birthday present. My husband and I are also conservationists so the opportunity to buy the book used through Amazon was appreciated. I wanted him to own it as I know he would want to read it more than once. It arrived on the promised date.

This may be the best and most depressing book I've ever read about the plight of the whales and the egregious hunting, especially by the Japanese that have recently left the IWC.

Because I know nothing about ships, whaling , or sailing in Antarctic waters, this book kept me interested all the way through. I learned a great deal about the effort to conserve/preserve the inhabitants of the Arctic ocean. The storm left me exhausted. Peter Heller is a master at describing action and emotion.

Addictive read! Highly recommend, certainly for those into conservation and protecting the natural world

thanks for being you..... i appreciate every difficulty you get in to and endure for our cetacean friends.GO GET EM GANG

Brilliant read!

This is an account of the Sea Shepherd Society's 2005-2006 campaign to stop illegal Japanese whaling in the protected waters of Antarctica. I found passages of this book to be very informative and moving. If you want to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes of the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, there is some interesting information here about the principals. However, I also found some parts of the book to be somewhat dry and sometimes even a bit boring and I wish the author had spent more time describing the actions of the last days of the campaign, when the Shepherds took action against the Japanese, instead of rushing through these events in only a few pages. If, like me, you're a huge fan of Whale Wars, this book is still essential reading, but, in my opinion, it's not as engaging as the series.