Product Description

For the crew of the eco-pirate ship the Farley Mowat, any day saving a whale is a good day to die. In The Whale Warriors, veteran adventure writer Peter Heller takes us on a hair-raising journey with a vigilante crew on their mission to stop illegal Japanese whaling in the stormy, remote seas off the forbidding shores of Antarctica. The Farley is the flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and captained by its founder, the radical environmental enforcer Paul Watson. The Japanese, who are hunting endangered whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, in violation of several international laws, know he means business: Watson has sunk eight whaling ships to the bottom of the sea.

For two months, Heller was aboard the vegan attack vessel as it stalked the Japanese whaling fleet through the howling gales and treacherous ice off the pristine Antarctic coast. The ship is all black, flies under a Jolly Roger, and is outfitted with a helicopter, fast assault Zodiacs, and a seven-foot blade attached to the bow, called the can opener.

As Watson and his crew see it, the plight of the whales is also about the larger crisis of the oceans and the eleventh hour of life as we know it on Earth. The exploitation of endangered whales is emblematic of a terrible overexploitation of the seas that is now entering its desperate denouement. The oceans may be easy to ignore because they are literally under the surface, but scientists believe that the world's oceans are on the verge of total ecosystem collapse. Our own survival is in the balance.

With Force 8 gales, monstrous seas, and a crew composed of professional gamblers, Earthfirst! forest activists, champion equestrians, and ex-military, the action never stops. In the ice-choked water a swimmer has minutes to live. The Japanese factory ship is ten times the tonnage of the Farley. The sailors on board both ships know that there will be no rescue in this desolate part of the ocean. Watson presses his enemy while Japan threatens to send down defense aircraft and warships, Australia appeals for calm, New Zealand dispatches military surveillance aircraft, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence issues a piracy warning, and international media begin to track the developing whale war.

For the Sea Shepherds there is no compromise. If the charismatic, intelligent Great Whales cannot be saved, there is no hope for the rest of the planet. Watson aims his ship like a slow torpedo and gives the order: "Tell the crew, collision in two minutes." In 35-foot seas, it is a deadly game of Antarctic chicken in which the stakes cannot be higher.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81224 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-14
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In late 2005, award-winning adventure writer Heller joined Paul Watson and his 44-person crew on their voyage to find and halt an illegal Japanese whaling fleet en route to the Antarctic sea. Watson, founder of Greenpeace in 1972, says he abruptly left in 1977 to start his current group, Sea Shepherd, because he wanted to take intervening action to enforce international laws; others say he was "ejected for grabbing a sealer's club and throwing it in the water." Either way, Watson is a controversial leader who compels "people to drop everything-jobs, loves, homes-and follow him to the ends of the earth"; one of Watson's all-volunteer staff says, "I don't want to die, of course... But if I die looking to save a whale, that would be OK." Heller's writing is energetic and bold, at times a swashbuckling adventure, at others a portrait of a determined eco-warrior, at others a heart-rending expose on the cruelty of whalers (who use explosive-tipped harpoons and electrocuting currents against the great animals). Shocking and repulsing, Heller's adventures will inspire many readers to agree that "If the oceans are dying in our time, and we kill them... we should have committed a crime so heinous we shall not ever be redeemed."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a radical environmental group, is led by Paul Watson, who pursues whaling ships with his ship Farley Mowat and a crew of volunteers. Watson formed Sea Shepherd after he broke from Greenpeace, and the group is responsible for sinking eight whaling ships and ramming even more illegal fishing vessels—without loss of life. Adventure writer Heller was invited to accompany Watson and crew during their 2005 campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica, and the result is this intimate and hair-raising eco-adventure. The Farley Mowat is armed with water cannons, a catapult (for flinging garbage), a reinforced bow for ramming, and a weapon known as the "can opener." After weeks of heavy seas, fog, iceberg dodging, and cat-and-mouse with both the whalers and with Greenpeace—there is no love lost between Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace—on Christmas Day, in a Force 8 gale, the Farley finally encounters the Japanese fleet. The reader rides the rush of adrenaline and understands their dedication and passion. Bent, Nancy

Review
"The adventure and the all-star cast of characters aside, the heart of this book is Heller's gripping account of the world's oceans. Aboard the Farley Mowat, Heller gains insight into the claim that if current fishing practices and pollution trends continue, 'every fishery in the world's oceans will collapse by 2048.'"-- Sacramento News & Review

Customer Reviews

Grassroots Heroism - Sea Shepherd Is The Best!
Wow! I've been a lifelong member/supporter of Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd. Heck, I even worked with him back in the founding days of Greenpeace, when Greenpeace was doing what Sea Shepherd does now. I thought I already "knew" all about the 2006 campaign in the Antarctic, but Heller's book really brings to life what it would have been like to be on the ship. Really terrific writing, heartbreaking commentary about whales and Planet Earth that puts it all in perspective, and exciting descriptions of the encounter with the murdering bogus "research" whalers. This book is very credible for its honesty. Life on the ship in the treacherous Antarctic Ocean is not a pleasure cruise; the ice and the weather are impressively difficult to endure. But endure it they did, well enough to find the deceptive, cowardly whalers and to engage them in a confrontation that nobody else in the world - not even any Navy of any country - has the balls to do. The crew of the good ship Farley Mowat are all heroes and heroins. These great folks do everything on a shoestring budget and continue to be pioneers in stopping slaughter and awaking minds around the planet. Thanks to Peter Heller for writing about it so well.

fabulous writing, high adventure
This book has it all -- life threatening confrontations on icy seas, big boats crewed by men who don't mind flouting international law to continue an outdated and murderous hunt, a good guy with the face of a sea otter, nerves of tempered steel, and a heart full of devotion to the world's largest mammals... and Peter Heller's beautiful narrative that can swing from exquisite descriptions of Antarctica's ice coast to Ken Follet-caliber suspense. Once you've digested its message about the imminent collapse of the great whales as well as the other fisheries in our oceans, you'll never be able to order sushi again. Buy this book for the pleasure of the read, or buy it for the disturbing message about the state of our marine ecosystems -- it somehow makes the world feel more beautiful and more fragile than ever before. It made me feel simultaneously blessed to live on earth, and empowered to help it heal or slip away, depending on my actions. Bravo, Peter Heller! I'd give this book six stars if I could.

Eye-Opening Trip
Read "The Whale Warriors" and you will never, I suspect, skip another story about whale hunting or international whaling conferences or anything in newspapers and magazines about the quality of our oceans and their health. Full disclosure that Peter Heller is a Denver-based friend but I had no idea about the level of detail and eye-opening account he tells in this book. The entire issue of whaling is told with balance and perspective and passion and zeal. The details are worthy of the most attentive reporter, the depth of analysis carries weight and heft. Finally, the big moral question is well probed. Your appetite for fish may drop, but your interest in people who spend their lives making a difference in this world will increase. To boot, the writing is terrific. Many writers have "done" the Antarctic but Heller brings a fresh, cool touch. "The next morning at nine we rounded the high cliffs of Cathedral Rock guarding the eastern cape and turned north into South Bay. Since dawn the south coast had been a ragged rampart of tall fluted cliffs and sharp guard rocks at the mouth of rugged coves. Low scudding clouds and damp air. Fog boiling over the tops of the headlands. As soon as we turned the corner, the wind hit, twenty knots offshore from the northwest, and cold, raking the bay into gray chop." This is a trip well worth taking -- to the Antartic and deep inside your own awarness of government-backed exploitation of natural resources and what committed soldiers can accomplish if they decide to make a difference.