Captain Watson of Whale Wars tells his story as part of several Discovery Channel TV specials on DStv on Sunday 7 June to celebrate 2020 World Oceans Day.

by Thinus Ferreira

For 2020 World Oceans Day on 8 June, Discovery Channel (DStv 121) has added several TV specials for Sunday 7 June that will explore the wonders of the oceans and the impact that humans play on it, including a revealing new must-see and unique Sunday TV special in which the iconic Captain Watson of Whale Wars tells his story.

On Sunday in two episodes at 13:30 and 14:20 Discovery Channel has Chasing Oceans in which the BAFTA award-winning cinematographer Patrick Dykstra first travels to Dominica and then the Maldives to showcase some of the most hostile places on Earth.

In Dominica he captures an epic hunt between a sperm whale and a diamondback squid, while in the Maldives he dives alongside the giant manta ray and the fabled "Manta Ray Tornado" as he examines the behaviour of this incredible species.

Melting: Last Race to the Pole on Sunday at 18:25 on Discovery Channel documents the race across the Arctic Ocean of Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters, battling weather and their own limitations in an attempt to reach the Geographic North Pole in record time.

On Sunday at 20:00 on Discovery Channel is the must-see Whale Wars: Captain Watson's Story. After multiple Whale Wars seasons, this special tells the story of the Sea Shepherd founder, Captain Paul Watson who has sailed the globe in his quest to protect the oceans.

Captain Watson and his crews have confronted whaling vessels from Europe to the Southern Ocean, seal hunters in Canada and shark finning crews in Central America documented in Whale Wars and this new unique programme now blends revealing interviews with Captain Watson with archival clips of the Sea Shepherd’s dramatic encounters, and spectacular underwater footage.

In the special, the award-winning documentarian Lesley Chilcott paints a fascinating portrait of a man willing to put his own life at risk in a relentless pursuit to protect the oceans and the marine life that inhabit them.

At 22:00 on Sunday night Discovery Channel has the striking hour-and-a-half documentary film, The Story of Plastic. Discovery Channel acquired the docu-film that was the Audience Award winner at the 2019 Mill Valley Film Festival.

The Deia Schlosberg’s documentary reveals in shocking fashion how the messaging around plastic has for decades been controlled by the plastic producers, who have deliberately focused on plastic waste.

The Story of Plastic reveals how the plastics industry is simultaneously blaming wasteful consumers for plastic pollution and aggressively investing to produce more single-use plastic than ever before.


ALSO READ: INTERVIEW. Expert Delphine Lévi Alvarès in The Story of Plastic documentary film on Discovery Channel: 'Knowing the real story of plastic is going to enable us to rewrite this story'.

Whale Wars on Animal Planet renewed for a 6th season of the docu-reality show.

The popular docu-reality series Whale Wars on Animal Planet (DStv 183) has been renewed for a 6th season.

The show follows the exploits of the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd with Paul Watson and his crew battling against whaling practices, mostly from Asian countries such as Japanese whalers.

Whale Wars on Animal Planet following the icy exploits of the Sea Shepherd, renewed for a 5th season.

Whale Wars on Animal Planet (DStv 264) produced by The Lizard Trading Company has been renewed for a 5th season.

The docu-reality drama follows the exploits of Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in the icy Antarctic waters where the crew battle Japanese whalers. The 5th season of Whale Wars will start in America in June 2012.

The latest campaign called Operation Divine Wind is the Sea Shepherd's eighth whale defense campaign, and features three ships with a crew of nearly 100 international volunteers aboard the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Brigitte Bardot ships.

''Whale Wars has been groundbreaking and riveting television, because each side is willing to risk it all in the Southern Ocean," says Marjorie Kaplan, the president and general manager of Animal Planet in a press release. ''Last year, we all thought the Sea Shepherds had ended whaling but now they are once again preparing to risk much for what they believe in."

''It makes little political or economic sense for the Japanese fleet to return to whale in the Antarctic waters," says Captain Paul Watson. "But it appears their motivation has shifted from hunting whales to refusing to surrender to Sea Shepherd."

Animal Planet filming a new spin-off series from the popular Whale Wars; focusing on protection of whales around Faroe Islands.

Whale Wars on Animal Planet (DStv 264) is getting a new spin-off series that will be focused on protecting whales as well.

Filming has started a few weeks ago this month on the docu-reality show, currently with the working title of The Faroe Islands Project, focusing on saving whales around the Faroe Islands. The islanders' practice - known as ''The Grind'' has been for centuries to force long fin whales into shallow water and then kill them, making their living off of selling whale products.

The Faroe Islands Project will focus again on the Sea Shepherds Conservation Society that also features in Whale Wars and the often extreme measures on the open seas the group goes to, to protect whales and obstruct vessels from attacking whales.

The Faroe Islands Project is produced by The Lizard Trading Company with Liz Bronstein and Lisa Lucas as executive producers. Animal Planet doesn't yet have a broadcasting starting date for the show in America or internationally.