Friday, September 9, 2011

Sea Shepherds + Jews = My Best Thing

Quick background:  I'm Jewish and I love whales (all animals really, but whales in particular).

So of course, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS:



If you're not familiar with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, perhaps you've heard of the show on Animal Planet, "Whale Wars."  The show follows a group of brave Sea Shepherds to sea as they fight to protect whales in the Southern Ocean and, in the upcoming season, in the Faeroe Islands.  SSCS also works to protect seals, sharks, dolphins (specifically the same ones you may have seen in THE COVE), fish, and other marine life in the Galapagos Islands and around the globe.  They were founded by Paul Watson who still captains one of their ships during each campaign.  He was also one of the original founders of Greenpeace but left the organization for a few reasons, one of them being a difference of opinion over tactic.  In other words, they had become increasingly bureaucratic and were no longer willing to go out on the front lines.  To that end, "Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas."  (A direct quote from their mission statement)

Check out Sea Shepherd and what they're up to HERE (warning, there are some graphic images on their site).  They, along with Captain Paul Watson, are also on Facebook if you're interested in updates from them.

Take a look at the show "Whale Wars" HERE.  The first time I watched this show it was by accident and it happened to be a very graphic/gruesome episode, the likes of which I have not (thank God) seen again.  I cried sobbed hysterically - something I had never done before while watching television - but I was hooked and haven't missed an episode since.

And for the record, for my Bat Mitzvah I personally donated $13 apiece to 13 organizations, all of them having to do with animals.  I wasn't familiar with Sea Shepherd at the time, but if I had, they would have definitely have made the list.

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