Image Credit: Animal Planet All you really need to survive a three-month stretch in Antarctic waters is a laptop, a few cans of beans, and a zen state of mind — or so says Laurens de Groot, who takes to the high seas again on the third season of Whale Wars. The premiere (airing tonight at 9 p.m., on Animal Planet) follows the Sea Shepherds, a non-profit conservation group, as they continue chasing and combating Japanese whale poachers in the Southern Ocean.
It’s dangerous business, fighting flashbang grenades with stink bombs afloat icy, choppy waters, so in season 3, the vigilante Shepherds are adding two new ships to their fleet. There’s the Bob Barker (yes, named after the Price is Right legend who donated $5 million for a new ship) and the Ady Gil, a Batmobile-like vessel that slices through waves and whalers’ harpoons with a quickness.
After two campaigns aboard the flagship Steve Irwin, de Groot joins the Ady Gil’s inaugural crew this season. He’s a former Dutch policeman who, with no prior experience on board a ship, “decided to sell everything I have, give up my job, and went to Australia.” And though (spoiler alert!) the Whalemobile doesn’t make it to the end of the season, de Groot’s resolve to continue this fight is stronger than ever: “When I was a cop, I [didn’t] run away from somebody committing a crime. You act, you interfere, and this is the same for me when a group is targeting an endangered species, on the brink of extinction, that is so vulnerable.” See our interview with de Groot after the jump.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why did you want to work with the Sea Shepherds in the first place? And how did you become part of the crew?
LAURENS DE GROOT: What’s happening on the oceans is just the biggest atrocity in our modern history — the overfishing, the overpopulation, the whaling, the dolphin-catching. When I found out about the Sea Shepherds I thought, wow, this is an organization that’s actually going out there and doing real action, enforcing laws where government should be. I had filled in an application but I wasn’t invited to the crew. I just thought, I’m going to walk up there and say, hey guys, can you use any help? They decided yeah, we could use your help, and I was welcome.
With two new vessels, you’ve also got some new crew this season. Are there any initiation rituals that you put the newbies through?
There’s one thing you always have to do when you reach Antarctica — well, you don’t have to do it — but you jump through the water, which is freezing cold. And then [Captain] Paul [Watson] writes a certificate that you’ve done the “penguin dives.” But we don’t have too much time for stuff like that because we’re after the whalers.
Tell me a little bit about the Ady Gil, a.k.a. the Batmobile on water.
Oh, I think it’s even better than the Batmobile — it was designed to break the world record of circumnavigating the globe, and it actually did that in 60 days. It was designed for speed, so we were faster than the harpoon vessels, [and] we could really easily find the Japanese whaling fleet. It was designed to pierce through the waves and it could submerge for almost seven meters. Inside, it was super crammed. It’s like you’re living in a spaceship. We have six people on board of that vessel, our living space was 10 meters [long] and maybe one to two meters wide. You drive each other mental when you’re a month out on [the] seas in such a small area.
How do you manage to not go mental, then?
You get into this zen mode, this meditation-like state, where you just go, I’m going to wake up, and I’m going to make my cereal, and I’m going to do my watch, and then I’m going to clean my dishes, and then I’m going to write a piece of my diary, and then I’m going to read a book, and then I’m going to sleep.
So you keep to a strict schedule?
That’s the only way I could keep myself a little bit sane. You just have nowhere to go and you’re constantly in each other’s face. We had a very small kitchen and all our vessels are vegan, which was quite hard because our cooking appliances were very limited. After a long week when we run out of vegetables, we were just doomed to eat rice and beans.
What kind of in-ship entertainment do you have on board?
A lot of videos on your laptop and a lot of books. We play cards, we did a little bit of fitness — we try to test each other with push-ups and stuff.
The name of the show is not at all an exaggeration — you actually do go into battle with the whalers. It’s aggressive, there are powerful weapons involved, you’ve really got to psych yourself up, so you listen to any music to get the adrenaline going, before a confrontation?
Yeah, yeah, I do. This year, we had a Maori song, but [in] previous years when I went out on the small boats, I was always playing “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem. “Do not miss the chance to blow” — you know that line? It becomes a mantra after a while. And the other one was “Enter Sandman,” by Metallica. That one gets you pumped. Good oldie from the Black Album.
About a month into this campaign, one of the Japanese ships destroys the Ady Gil and you and your crew have to jump ship. Can you tell us what happened and how you feel about the work now, after such a traumatic event?
I was on top of the vessel when the collision happened. We were getting low on fuel so we decided to hang back, let all the vessels pass, and [then] slowly make our way to the Steve Irwin. We were drifting there and all the vessels were passing by. And the last ship, the Shonan Maru 2, […] at the last moment, they turn to the right and just went straight for our vessel. That ship was coming in so fast and we didn’t expect it, so you think, well, it’s done. I’m dead. You don’t have time to actually think about, this is it. You just say the f-word pretty loud, and you know that bow is coming over you. [Then] you get into emergency mode, get a life raft out, and then we stuck it out for, like, five minutes. It shows so clearly that we’re dealing with ruthless poachers that no one is willing to interfere with. The ramming made it even more clear that these people don’t back down for anything, and that’s probably why there’s not many organizations out there. That’s why we do it, and that’s why I like to join, and that’s why it’s a good thing Whale Wars is a platform for us to show this to the world.
GO guys go! I am rooting for you- stop that madness! It isn’t necessary- the world food supply isn’t in some shortage that we need to be doing this- its just greed- keep going- don’t stop and we will end this.
It is incredibly racist for these nice white guys to tell the Japanese or Icelanders taht they can’t hunt whales like they have for centuries. It was not Japanese or Icelandic whaling that decimated the populations. That took European and colonial American whalers. Anyone supporting this group should be forced to actually read up on it, starting with “Moby Dick”. How typical that European-and/or-Americans are telling other people how they must live.
are you kidding me? thats like saying someone shouldnt try to stop human trafficing and slaving because america used to have slaves back before civil war.. thats probably the most ignorant comment ever.. leave them alone? to massacre helpless animals to make millions in profits, lying about it being research to do it? in a protected sanctuary? if something i swrong, its wrong, and its not racist to say so.. i completely support these guys, who by the way, arent american, but multinationals, from europe, britain, holland, austraila, new zealand, and even japan! you obviously never watched the show.. or read anything about whats actually going on.. its criminal.. evil abounds when good men do nothing.. i suppose you dont care if someone drowns kittens either? seriously!
YEAH!!!! I agree Sharon!!!!!!!
Are you one of the people we heard about being pais by the whaler company?, looks like it by the nonsense you write.
Are you one of the people we heard about being paid by the whaler company?, looks like it by the nonsense you write.
All I can say to any skeptic or naysayer is watch season 2 episode 10 where you actually see the brutal MURDER of a whale. There is no argument to justify the flippant disregard of life of one of the most spectacular creatures to inhabit the Earth. If you can watch that are not be moved, well then frankly you have no heart. GO SEA SHEPHERDS!
I meant to point out the crew is not all american and european.. there are people on the crew who’s home countries are involved in the whaling..including japan..and i think the drwoning kittens comment may have been a little harsh, and i apologize.. it just seemed like a really poor and uniformed argument.. and the japanese are clearly in the wrong, not just for the whaling itself, ( this is something whole nations recognize as wrong.. there are talks between japan and australia going on right now, and holland is also taking a strong stand letting the sea shepherds fly under their flag..(it may not be holland here.. i dont have time at the moment to look up the country, but i just read it a few days ago, they refused japans requests to not register the ships in sea shepherds fleets..) anyway, its not just this small group of people.. there are whole countries involved in this thing.. and the crew on the japanese ships are clearly violent and breaking the law freely, including attacking with violence..so.. please read more and check it out.. you may actually change your whole view if you do.. sorry again, for the rudeness earlier.. it just shocked me what you said..
I LOVE this show and all the brave men and women on board the Sea Shepard boats. Their total commitment to the environment and what they believe in is inspiring.
The whalers are not breaking any law, and none of the whales they are harvesting are on the endangered list. The “international ban on whaling” as you say, is for the southern ocean sanctuary… enforced by the IWC, of which Japan is a voting member. The harvesting they are doing is within the rules.
There is no proof that SSCS has limited the whalers harvest count…. only speculation based on the whalers not collecting their legally ALLOWED full harvest.
It’s not a question of telling someone what they can or can’t do. The Japanese are breaking the international law on whaling. They do it saying it is for research but you can clearly see it is not. Not sure I agree with the violence used, but I guess we should just wait until all the whales are gone?? So anyone not supporting this group should actually open her eyes and see what is actually going on.
But you have to see it from their point of view. This is what they DO, this is what they know how to do, this is how their people have always lived life. Can’t you understand how insulting and heartbreaking they must find it when outsiders tell them they can’t engage in their ancestral lifestyle? Rather than confronting them in this aggressive way, if you want to help stop whaling, you’ve got to go to the people armed with a specific plan of “These whales are almost extinct, so it’s in everyone’s interest if you stop hunting them, at least until their numbers make a significant increase. Here’s some alternate ways in which you can make a living for yourselves by using these other local resources.” and make sure that their new activity results in them being as well-compensated or better compensated than the whaling. I know that’s a hard plan to make up and see through, but in the end it will do more good than battling on the open seas, which just inflames tensions and makes the fisherman unite like an army fighting outsiders (and that only fuels their sense of Us vs. Them). You don’t want that; you want them to understand your point of view, and the worst way to try to make that happen is Whale Wars style confrontation. I appreciate their good intentions of saving marine wildlife, but I think this is not an effective way to do it.
Their traditional, ancestral way was to send a fleet of factory ships into Antarctic waters under the guise of “scientific research”? To put the meat in freezers and subsidize schools to buy it for lunches? To sell it illegally to sushi restaurants like Hump in California? Pul-eeeze. You’ve bought into the propaganda that’s used to defend an illegal commercial enterprise. Whaling in the sanctuary is solely and completely based on greed, and using a disingenuous “tradition” argument to justify hunting endangered species dishonors those traditions.
I agree. While it may be true that the Japanese are operating on the fringe of what is legal under the guise of research, the way to solve the problem isn’t confrontation. Plus what proof do we have that that is the case. I think the way to approach this is to observe and see them breaking the law then go through the proper channels to see the law is enforced. If it comes down to just wanting them to stop whaling, then yes I say it would be nice to see a stop to it, but I also think it isn’t right to tell the Japanese how to live.
The whalers are not breaking any law, and none of the whales they are harvesting are on the endangered list. The “international ban on whaling” as you say, is for the southern ocean sanctuary… enforced by the IWC, of which Japan is a voting member. The harvesting they are doing is within the rules.
There is no proof that SSCS has limited the whalers harvest count…. only speculation based on the whalers not collecting their legally ALLOWED full harvest.
eminem
Many of the comments here indicate a lack of knowledge of the history of the whaling industry. Throughout the 20th century, whaling nations (including Iceland, Norway and Japan) slaughtered so many whales that most species were driven to the brink of extinction and many remain endangered today as a result. There are international rules and regulations that prohibit all commercial whaling (not to mention those in place to protect endangered species).
Historically, whaling nations have violated size limits, species limits, seasonal limits, sanctuary boundaries, all manner of quotas and have even facilitated “pirate whaling”. (That’s front companies with foreign labor killing whales in secret for the purpose of smuggling unreported meat to Japanese markets.)
When the United Nations voted in 1972 in favor of a moratorium on commercial whaling, the whaling nations ignored it and insisted the IWC was the only forum that could make such a decision (as they had more clout within the IWC) However, their position weakened over time and in 1982 the International Whaling Commission also voted to enact a moratorium on commercial whaling.
Norway objected to the moratorium outright and simply continued to kill whales anyway. Today, Norway’s government subsidized catch is second only to Japan. Some of the meat is also exported to Japanese markets.
Iceland initially accepted the decision (and was legally obligated to adhere) but then attempted to follow Japan’s lead by starting a “scientific whaling” program. Due to boycotts and the threat of US sanctions, Iceland gave up whaling in 1989 and left the IWC in 1992. However, in 2002 Iceland rejoined, through a series of controversial votes, and reversed its original decision on the moratorium. Today Iceland kills endangered Fin whales commercially and exports the meat to Japan.
Japan is the worst offender of the whaling nations and is responsible for killing more whales than any other country since the moratorium went into effect. Japan accepted the moratorium due to pressure from the USA but as soon as the ban became a reality, Japan started issuing itself “scientific permits” to kill whales for research. Today, Japan kills both endangered and non-endangered species. Most of the whales are killed in an internationally established whale sanctuary. The Japanese government subsidizes the industry and uses its economic influence to effectively buy votes in the IWC with foreign aid in exchange for support. The meat from the research programs goes into cold storage and into markets and restaurants where only a tiny fraction of the Japanese population actually consumes it.
So this conflict is not about extremists or racists randomly attacking Japanese people. The Sea Shepherd organization is merely attempting to stop what it believes to be a poaching operation in international waters that violates international agreements and threatens the Antarctic ecosystem. They’re not the only group with this opinion. In fact, the nation of Australia has filed against Japan in the International Court of Justice and several independent legal panels have agreed that Japan is violating various international agreements. The International Whaling Commission has almost annually issued resolutions calling on Japan to halt its research whaling programs.
No one has a right to hunt anything to extinction or violate international law: “because it’s traditional.” That’s insane and an incredibly lame attempt to justify Japan’s poaching.
Racist? Uh Sea Shepherd’s crews are multi-national and multi-racial and crews often include people from Japan.
As for being effective. Sea Shepherd has cost Japanese poachers millions of dollars in lost illegal kills. They’re very very effective. They’re also not violent – they toss rancid butter at killed whales and obstruct harpoon ships etc but *they* ain’t the ones shooting at people or ramming ships…
While other groups hang banners and fund-raise professionally, sea shepherd actually goes out and, you know, saves actual whales… How novel.
I find it hypocritical that the whalers are “ruthless poachers” for ramming a ship… yet the so-called “captain” can ram and sink ships and appears quite the hero in the doe-eyed eco-terrorists mind.
Check out the southern ocean whale sanctuary wiki…. the whalers are obviously NOT poachers, but well within the law. The criminals are the ones portrayed as the heroes…. the “captain” is afraid to enter certain countries he is wanted in…. usually he lets his crew take the fall and sit in jail. Criminals, plain and simple.
There are people here, probably one and the same person, on the poacher`s payroll!
My my there sure are a lot of people posting here, or maybe one and the same, for the poachers!
Paz you actually hit the nail on the head. Japan’s ICR hires a number of people to flood message boards concerning whaling and whale wars to make it seem like they have more people on their side than they actually do.
Japan’s government is PATHETIC and they won’t even let “The Cove” be screened there.
Allthough I believe in the cause sea shepard in fighting for. It is a shame that thier leader has to be Paul Watson. After watching this show since it started I am shocked that he hasn’t managed to get any of these brave, commited people that he has managed to talk into following him, killed up to this point. He seems to be constantly putting his people ( who don’t seem to have enough experence to know any better )at great unnessary risk. It just seems to have been a matter of pure luck that some of the really stupid mistakes he and some of his higher ranking so called ships officers have made has not yet resulted in human death. His seemingly uncaring additude about the lives and safety of his own crew make me wonder if he is thinking that getting one or more of them killed, might just help his cause.
@ rick – I agree. I started watching this season on a friend’s reccomendation. I think the Japanese are totally in the wrong and I agree with a lot of what the Sea Shepards believe. But, I want to scream at the TV after seeing the Capt. and other officers spend long moments staring into space before authorizing obviously risky moves.
Thanks you Laurens and other members of Sea Shepherds for standing up for what is right. I wish you luck in all of your campaigns as you protact the oceans!
What is the “RESEARCH” That is being done? That is so important that they have to kill hundreds of whales a year?
“I find it hypocritical that the whalers are “ruthless poachers” for ramming a ship… yet the so-called “captain” can ram and sink ships and appears quite the hero in the doe-eyed eco-terrorists mind”
And when did this happen? The ship they supposedly “rammed” cut them off and it is clearly seen in the video. The Japanese ship could have changed course, it had plenty of time. And yes, the Japanese are more terrorists then the Sea Shepherds. They INTENTIONALLY rammed the Ady Gil and could have killed the people on board. Yet they have NO concern for those lives. If you bothered to watch at all, you’d see the Japanese actually going after the Sea Shepherds this year and turning on their water guns and trying to hit them. What the Sea Shepherds do is not as bad as what the Japanese do. Do some research before you complain about them. And yes, the Japanese poach whales thar ARE on the endangered speccies list, try the Humpback Whale.
Japan…Japanese occupation of Korea, World War 2 (working with Adolph Hitler)…let’s not portray Japan to be a country of simple fishers and whalers who are just following their ancestral ways. Clearly by whale meant smuggled from Japan into illegal markets demonstrates these whale terrorists aka poachers true intentions; which is to turn a profit at any cost. So what happens to whaling when there are no whales to hunt? Is Japan’s economy going to collapse? NO! So these cowards need to allow themselves to stop feeding into propaganda and Japanese brainswashing tactics. To intentionally ram a considerably smaller vessel when their engine was off is pathetic. Not only do these “fisherman” have no regard to marine life, but they clearly have no regard to human life. One of our purposes on this earth is to be a good shepherd of all the birds of the air, animals on land, and fish of the sea. I can’t imagine that hiding under the guise of research is anything but cowardly. Japan is soing no justice to their ancestors who were samurai. These men commanded the respect of their people. What would they think of these ruthless,profiteering thugs of the sea? Someone mentioned something about the Cove in Taiji–to the fisherman there, slaughter these poor, defenseless dolphins in plain sight of the people if there is nothing wrong with your actions! Why resort to a hidden cove protected by the police with warning signs and do not enter signs? The deeds that men do in darkness are always revealed by the light.