You may have seen the Animal Planet reality show ‘Whale Wars’, in which Captain Paul Watson heads an anti-whaling conservation society, Sea Shepherd.

If not, you should check it out.

Each whaling season a group of activists board the vessel, the Steve Irwin, and physically try and intervene with  Japanese whalers by using non violent, yet extremely aggressive, means.

Some tactics they use are stink bombs which spoil the whale meat if contacted and causes a very unpleasant smelling ship, slime grenades which make it difficult to walk on deck, and prop fowling.

I think that regardless of where you stand on the issue, you have to admit, this show is entertaining.

This year the Steve Irwin will have a celebrity activist aboard, helping to raise awareness about Japanese whaling in the Antarctica.

Actress Daryl Hannah, a longtime humanitarian who supports animal and human rights, is climbing aboard the vessel and joining the crew for at least part of the voyage.

Greenpeace (which Captain Paul Watson co-founded but was eventually kicked out due to his radical maneuvers) opts out of the seasonal chase each year, instead chosing peaceful and non-evasive protests. Hannah thinks that’s the wrong approach and wishes the organization would join Captain Watson in his hunt.

She says, “If Greenpeace would join forces with Sea Shepherd they would shutdown the whaling industry right away. If they were really serious and held their convictions they could accomplish this.”

Greenpeace responded saying that it is happy that Hannah supports anti-whaling efforts but wishes the actress would instead chose to travel to Japan and campaign.

“We think the best place to win this campaign in is Japan,” Greenpeace’s Reece Turner said.

This year the Sea Shepherd will be seeking out the whaling fleets for a period of five months. In that time the Japanese will have slaughtered 1,000 endangered fin and minke whales under an international loophole allowing scientific whaling for research.