Director Dan Stone's first documentary feature follows a mission of Captain Paul Watson in the Antarctic to prevent Japanese whaling.

The ships Farley Mowat and Robert Hunter set out to the Antarctic to stop a Japanese whaling vessel that kills endangered whales, supposedly after finding a loophole that allows for scientific research.  Captain Paul Watson and his crew of volunteers raised the Jolly Roger flags and set out to do whatever they could to stop the whaling.  An amazing crew of volunteers worked together throughout the mission and gave each other much support, especially during an 8-hour period when two crew members were lost on a Zodiac, nearly having to cancel their plans.  Emotions caught on camera ran high during those few hours, and joy and relief were on all faces when the two crew members were found, then it was back to the business of whale saving.  They proceeded to use controversial tactics such as fouling the propeller and ramming the Japanese ship.  The film surely kept the audience at the edge of their seats and I believe I even held my breath at some point.

Captain Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and more information can be found at SeaShepherd.org.  There are also more daring missions shared in the series Whale Wars on Animal Planet.


Lisa Wilson is a local Telluride blogger and photographer. You can see more of her work at Mountains Rule & Telluride Daily Photo and follow her on Twitter @TellurideLisa.