BusinessTN

Two episodes down, five to go. But so far, Animal Planet's new reality series Whale Wars, which premiered Nov. 7 and was produced by Knoxville-based RIVR Media, has sparked rave reviews and raging controversy.

In the creation of what's being called "edgy" programming for the traditionally warm and fuzzy network responsible for such shows as the annual Puppy Bowl, RIVR crews chronicle the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's three-month mission to interfere with Japanese ships that hunt whales in the Antarctic Ocean. Though commercial whaling is illegal, Japan, a country whose people eat whale meat, kills hundreds of whales each year under a loophole that allows the practice in the name of research. After scientists collect data from the whales' remains, the meat is sold in Japanese shops.

The Society was founded and is led by former Greenpeace co-founder Paul Watson, who was asked to leave Greenpeace because of his aggressive tactics. Almost every winter, its members fight to end a practice that they say violates international conservation laws. On this particular mission, aboard a vessel named after late conservationist and crocodile hunter Steve Irwin, the group throws butyric acid stink bombs, as well as a slippery substance that makes it difficult to walk on deck, aboard a Japanese vessel and tries to tangle the vessel's propellers with a rope.

But the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), a Japanese group that operates whaling research vessels, has accused Animal Planet not only of endorsing the work of eco-terrorists but also of deceiving its viewers by showing staged events in what is touted as a reality television program. The group specifically points to an incident in which two members of the Sea Shepherd board a Japanese ship and are taken "hostage." Gavin Carter, a spokesperson for ICR, notes that "the two people who boarded the ship were carrying backpacks, toothbrushes and provisions."

"Sea Shepherd refused to take them back for three days, so they could gain as much publicity as possible," Carter says. "Animal Planet is complicit in this and has referred to them as hostages. They are probably the only hostages ever taken in the world that voluntarily went to somebody else and then refused to go and called themselves hostages."

Carter also calls what is perhaps the most dramatic incident of the series "fake." A gunshot allegedly fired from a Japanese ship hits Watson, who wasn't harmed because he was wearing a Kevlar vest.

"Watson himself has been attacking the whaling ships for some time without the TV cameras being there, and he's never pretended to be shot. It's clearly a fake situation, and it's pretty clear that it's Animal Planet pulling the strings."

But RIVR CFO and Whale Wars executive producer Rob Lundgren says the show was "absolutely not staged."

"All we did was follow the story, and even though we were just on the Sea Shepherd ship, we really tried to get both sides of the story," he says. "We feel like we gave a very balanced portrayal of what goes on out there. We were just out there documenting what happened."

RIVR signed up for the series when independent producer Dan Stone, whom RIVR has worked with before, approached them about the possibility of accompanying the anti-whaling group on a mission. After developing the idea and pitching it to multiple networks, RIVR received a call from Animal Planet development executive Charlie Foley just before Thanksgiving.

"He said, 'Hey, we're kind of interested in doing this show, but when does the ship leave?'" explains Dee Haslam, RIVR CEO and executive producer. "We said, 'It leaves Dec. 6, so if you want to do it, we have to know now.'"

So, RIVR set about putting together crews who were willing to spend an unspecified amount of time on a boat in the Antarctic over the Christmas holidays. By Dec. 6, the production company had a crew in Melbourne, Australia, ready to go. While that was challenging, it certainly wasn't the most challenging aspect of making Whale Wars a reality.

"Our winter was just chaos around here," Haslam says. "The boat broke down a couple of times, and we had to bring it back and change out crews. People were seasick. It was a constant battle of things going on, but when you shoot in extreme conditions, that's what happens."

In addition to seasickness, the crew had to cope with freezing temperatures and high winds. Along with the 34 Sea Shepherd crewmen, they took three-minute showers every three days and ate vegan food. They also couldn't communicate regularly with the RIVR staff in Knoxville.

"You're on a ship in the middle of the Antarctic, and don't want the Japanese to know where you are," Haslam says. "So, your communication was very minimal. It was challenging."

But it appears to be paying off. Throughout the past month, words of praise for the new series have filled the pages of newspapers across the country. The consensus: Even if one disagrees with the Sea Shepherd's mission, the group's actions make for good television.