I generally like him, even though "Whale Wars" was badly produced.
"I saw something which really changed my life. That whale had the power to kill us right there and I could see understanding. I could see the whale really understood what we were trying to do. I could see him pull himself back and his muscles move and instead of coming forward he fell back and I saw his eye slip beneath the surface and he died."
The above quote reminded me of some of the reasons I stopped eating meat.
I think from an activist point of view that Paul Watson is interesting in that he is 100% about direct action, and always has been, but it's been consistent rather than one off attention grabbing stunts that achieve nothing. Also regular /eco/ poster the Dalai Lama likes him, hence the related pic.
>>1376 >The above quote reminded me of some of the reasons I stopped eating meat.
Sentimental anthropomorhism, you mean? Look, whales may well be intelligent as all get out, but the idea that a dying whale could understand the motivations of a bunch of protestors is laughable to say the least.
>>1379 > Sentimental anthropomorhism, you mean? Look, whales may well be intelligent as all get out, but the idea that a dying whale could understand the motivations of a bunch of protestors is laughable to say the least.
it didn't need to. animals pick up on people's vibes and know when people are up to mischief because the people themselves give it away. equally if the whale feels the love coming off the protestors it'll be influenced by it. understanding is not required.
>>1386 "That whale had the power to kill us right there and I could see understanding. I could see the whale really understood what we were trying to do."
>>1387 I don't find it too difficult to imagine that a whale can tell the difference between "rhose things want to kill me" and "those things don't and keep getting in the way of the others". If he means that the whale grasped he was an activist and all that she-bang I'm with you, but I'm not sure that's what he meant.
Sounds more like he's superimposing his own feelings and beliefs onto these things. It's like a religious fanatic imposing their beliefs on the world and events around them.
>>1390 You're probably right; I may have been in an unduly cynical mood when I objected to the comment. I know nothing about the man, and for all I know he could be incredibly sensible and have meant no more than you say. It struck me as being the sort of new-age nonsense that can't appreciate animals for being fucking amazing things on their own merits, but has to have claim kind of mystical communion and anthropomorhise them - it's the pet-owner's 'he understands every word I say' but for self-righteous hippies, and that gets right up my nose. As I say though, I may just be being overly cynical.
Indeed. I dont think he was trying to say that the whale spotted the Greenpeace bumper sticker and pledged a donation, it just probably realised only one side was pointing a harpoon at it.
Most likely he's just imposing his own thoughts, desires and beliefs onto it. It's the same with religious fanatics who find meaning in everything - be it god making them pass an exam or finding Jesus in a cheese toastie.
I'm wary of the implication here, that a more intelligent creature is somehow more worthy of being saved. It's always the same though, the cute and cuddly (or the big and majestic) always get the attention. You can pretend you're a friend of mother earth all you want, but you're swanning about saving the pandas and the dolphins, but when it comes to the Bavarian Shitworms you leave well alone. Hypocrites.
