Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? whaling operation and it's also been designated a whale sanctuary, so it's very much an illegal whaling operation.
Andrea: No, five million. And, and we had just bought the ship and in Ghana and actually, interestingly enough, it was a former Norwegian whaling vessel. But now we're using that same Norwegian whaling vessel to actually go down and save whales. So, but I remember the first day that we were on the ship and there were migrating whales that came alongside the ship. And these migrating whales were actually down on their way to the whale sanctuary in Antarctica.
And there were just bones littered all over the shore. The International Whaling agreement was from 1965, so these bones are at least-- were at least 50 years old when I was there, or 40 years old when I was there, but they're now older.
So in this case, because whales were a resource, the city of Boston in particular was-- all the areas around here were particularly dependent on whaling , you wanted to know where the whales were and how many you'd caught, because it was essentially an auditing exercise. And a guy called Townsend went through and manually mapped each of the locations, the approximate locations,
And it wasn't until 2008, I was invited to exhibit my work at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Santiago, Chile. And this is the security detail there.
Lee: Mm-hmm. Tod: We're aiming only for whaling decks that no people are on because the number one rule is that you can't harm any people. And so what the stink bombs do is that we're actually aiming for whaling decks and when the stink bombs hit the whaling decks, it spoils any meats that you might put on there so they can't process whales on there. Lee: Right. Gotcha. Tod: It also smells so bad, that after an attack, we literally have to close all our portholes and windows--
These are paintings that I made from kelp that was on the shore. And there were also bones from abandoned whaling stations. We think these were most likely blue whale bones because that's the gold standard of whaling because you
Our first piece of business to do is to actually unload the aircraft. that they could put in whaling stations so they could get whale oil to help their industrial processes.
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? Andrea: Our methods are stopping whaling , both directly saving lives and economically.
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? groups who are enforcing the moratorium on whaling .
The discovery-- "discovery," quote unquote-- the scientific observation of whale sounds sort of dates to the mid 20th century. I should add it was a rediscovery of something that Indigenous whaling cultures had long known. So this rediscovery by Western science of whale song was very much focused on species like the humpback whale , which had
Together, we can inspire compassion, stop the violence, and bring about a revolution of love. We can look at what helped drive down the whaling industry.
one of most comprehensive data sets on the distribution of whales that existed. And it was actually created from 19th century whaling logs. So in this case, because whales were a resource, the city of Boston in particular was-- all the areas around here were particularly
He'd have to check. Maybe he would say that his father had died on a whaling ship and left Drucker and his mother with nothing. Or maybe he would say that he was a descendant of one of those men who had poured tea into the harbor
of what I think of as the humane economy, which is whale watching. The United States used to be the greatest whaling nation in the world-- greatest not in terms of best, but greatest in terms of largest. And ships would leave the ports on mainly the East Coast-- Nantucket and New Bedford, and ply the world's oceans,
So we, as a nation, went from this incredible industry where mansions and big buildings were built around the whaling economy. And now the whaling ships are just in museums. If you go to Nantucket, you can go to the Whaling Museum.
And from six or five feet away from a whale 's eye? And the goal wasn't necessarily to end whaling .
And from six or five feet away from a whale 's eye? issues whales face. Whaling makes up less than 1% of what's killing them.
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? out for the first time that their country is actually whaling . Because a lot of the country had no idea that it was even going on before this happened. And actually, without
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? Andrea: It's, commercial whaling has been outlawed by the International Whaling Commission.
In the case of whales, for example, there are some species of whales that really are going to take a very long time to recover, if they do, to their pre-whaling numbers. On the happy side, other species of whales like humpbacks have been making a great comeback, a surprisingly good comeback.
That's a painting of some of that same earth formation. To the left, this is an abandoned whaling station in the Arctic. They don't have any buildings really left in the Arctic.
So anything that would have been there, would have moved off into something that they could use. But this is moss that's growing in the area that was a whaling station. And the moss we weren't allowed to get close to it.
normal like response area here on the cape it's a lot more challenging when we got the call for Madagascar it just so happened that this stranding took place during a meeting of the international whaling commission so B basically every big whale biologist on the planet was concentrated in Santiago Chile and they sent out a plea for help to a handful of
Eric is also involved in ocean conservation, and is technical advisor and photographer for the Sea Shepherdsí Conservation Society. He was head photographer for the Operation Musashi, Sea Shepherdsí 2008 and 2009 anti-whaling campaign in Antarctica, which was featured in season two of the hit TV show Whale Wars. You can find more info about Eric and his photography at echeng.com. Eric, thanks for taking time to come to Google today, and welcome.
And there were also bones from abandoned whaling stations. We think these were most likely blue whale bones because that's the gold standard of whaling because you get so much bang for your harpoon buck.
Close your eyes with me. The Gold Rush, the Comstock Lode, the whaling years, railroad barons. The Martinez, the whisky smash, the gin fizz, punches, sours, and flips.
economy. And now the whaling ships are just in museums. If you go to Nantucket, you can go to the Whaling Museum. But you won't see any US whalers in operation.
Melville would become famous for writing memoirs and novels about spectacular sea voyages to exotic islands. He became famous but he lost the readership eventually with this strange, long book about a whaling voyage. He decided to turn inward after this, weirdly.
He decided to turn inward after this, weirdly. I mean, if you write all these books about whaling and stuff, it's odd that your next choice would be to write about the snug, suffocating world of the office, and to exchange the titanic hunt for the white whale to the hunt for the right size pen.
and also just direct fishing subsidies. So, addressing those and costing them that much money economically, it does cut down and it will stop whaling and sink the whaling fleet economically. And same with the fishing fleets. They operate on a very small margin a lot of times of profit. Say, for example, bottom trawling. The only reason--what bottom trawling is--is basically bulldozing the ocean floor and coral, there's deep sea coral, just bulldozing
Everything is meticulously planned and well placed. For instance, when we attacked the Nishu Maru with, with our stink bombs and so forth-- Lee: Mm-hmm. Tod: We're aiming only for whaling decks that no people are on because the number one rule is that you can't harm any people. And so what the stink bombs do is that we're actually aiming for whaling decks and when the stink bombs hit the whaling decks, it spoils any meats that you might put on there so they can't process whales on there.
Andrea: Well, Sea Shepherd has a long history of protecting whales and it actually started back in the late 70s. And Paul Watson, whose our founder, he went after a pirate whaling ship named the Sierra. And the Sierra was a pirate whaling ship and it wasn't registered to anyone and it just went around the world killing whales. So, Sea Shepherd has a strict nonviolence policy and to take out the Sierra, the pirate whaling ship, Sea Shepherd sunk it while it was in port and nobody was on board. So, Sea Shepherd has a very, very strict
ship named the Sierra. And the Sierra was a pirate whaling ship and it wasn't registered to anyone and it just went around the world killing whales. So, Sea Shepherd has a strict nonviolence policy and to take out the Sierra, the pirate whaling ship, Sea Shepherd sunk it while it was in port and nobody was on board. So, Sea Shepherd has a very, very strict policy on not harming people and saving lives.
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? And so they're finally now following through on that and they have sued Japan in International Court over their whaling , so I do commend Australia for taking that action and following
And that's one of the big ways that whales contribute to potential carbon sequestration. You know, whales have been decimated so that there really are-- there are about 10% to 20% of the whale population that there was before industrial whaling . So we're hoping that if we could contribute to restoring those populations, particularly in the southern oceans around Antarctica, that that would contribute greatly to carbon sequestration globally.
And I'm the first officer on that ship. And I work for Sea Shepherd, an organization traditionally known for its aggressive, nonviolent, direct action tactics, most well known for like crashing into whaling ships and stuff like that.
They don't have any buildings really left in the Arctic. And that's because, for the most part, they're still whaling in the Arctic. And they whale on factory ships.
Fresh out of medical school, Arthur Conan Doyle served for a time as a ship's doctor on a Greenland whaling voyage.
We began to recognize they're the largest creatures who've ever lived on the planet, and maybe we should start to protect them. So we, as a nation, went from this incredible industry where mansions and big buildings were built around the whaling economy. And now the whaling ships are just in museums.
I mean, this is a company that infiltrated animal welfare groups, that spent $10s of millions to defend its use of elephants. We now have a multi-billion dollar whale watching industry that, in comparative terms, would have dwarfed what whaling was when it involved killing of whales.
ClickHole had a piece recently that said-- I'm going to maybe mangle the headline a bit, but I went on this whaling trip and it completely
And so having done that and having a fiction writer's brain, literally, this could have been a novel about like an 18th century whaling family.
Andrea: And has anybody here seen Whale Wars, the TV show? OK. Great, we have a few Whale Wars fans, but for any of you who haven't heard of Whale Wars or seen it, it's our hit TV show on Animal Planet. It's a reality show that takes you with us to the front lines of our battle to save whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary from a criminal whaling operation. But what we wanted to talk to you today about is not just what you're gonna see on the TV show, but it's really about individual actions and how it's up to every single one of us
Lee: Five million. I was like, "God, that's like ." The Price is Right has been good to him. Andrea: No, five million. And, and we had just bought the ship and in Ghana and actually, interestingly enough, it was a former Norwegian whaling vessel. But now we're using that same Norwegian whaling vessel to actually go down and save whales. So, but I remember the first day that we were on the ship and there were migrating whales that came alongside the ship.
that are headed a few thousand miles down to the Southern Ocean and we have to be there. We have to get the ship ready to be able to save them because we're gonna be their only defense, once they're down in the Southern ocean, from the criminal whaling operation." But that was my thought was just a few months down the line, we're gonna have to save these
a realm that was for them. It was a ice realm, a watery realm and it was a realm just for those animals in that sanctuary. But, as we were chasing a whaling ship, we happened to pass a bright orange buoy and later on we stopped to investigate. And it turned out
help, like, cost them as much money as possible I guess, right? Andrea: Right. Right, well, a lot, a lot of this is driven by economics. And so with the whaling , well--just going back to the whaling operation though--when we save over 500 whales, we're costing them millions of dollars every year. And a lot of what's going on is this is actually being subsidized by governments, in the way of fuel subsidies
and sink vessels because people could die and that kind of thing." So, tell me more about how, how you guys sink vessels. Andrea: Well, Sea Shepherd has a long history of protecting whales and it actually started back in the late 70s. And Paul Watson, whose our founder, he went after a pirate whaling ship named the Sierra. And the Sierra was a pirate whaling ship and it wasn't registered to anyone and it just went around the world killing whales. So, Sea Shepherd has a strict
Lee: it's changed how they operate, and maybe for the better. Maybe not, I'm not sure, I don't know all the details, but what do you guys think about that? Lee: OK. Andrea: We hope so, but Sea Shepherd has already announced that as long as there's a criminal whaling operation that we're gonna go down there, so Sea Shepherd has already