Whale Wars, Season 3 Finale, Episode 13 Saw Captain Bethune Board the Shonan Maru No. 2; Episode 12 Aired, Too

Whale Wars, Season 3 Finale, Episode 13 aired Friday night on Animal Planet (after Episode 12) which saw Captain Bethune board the Shonan Maru No. 2 during the back to back program special. The two hours had some tense moments in it, especially over Bethune's boarding. The Season 3 Finale, Episode 13, of Whale Wars would see the Sea Shepherds feel like they made a difference in their anti-whaling campaign. The Japanese did fail to meet their whale quota.

Whale Wars, Season 3, Episode 12 Sees Captain Bethune Plot Boarding the Shonan Maru No. 2

The slipway of the Nisshin Maru has been blocked for nine days by the Sea Shepherds, but Captain Bethune is plotting to board a Japanese ship via a jet ski. But stormy waters are preventing the plan from being fully hatched, and making radar useless to where tracking the whalers is harder with only visual contact. The Bob Barker is falling behind the Steve Irwin though, and contact between the ships is not effective either in the storm. A media outlet in Japan calls Captain Watson saying that the Sea Shepherds injured three whalers in the last engagement on Episode 11, but video footage on board shows that the whalers may have injured themselves with their own projectiles.

After the storm and 10 days of shutting down whaling, the Sea Shepherds stay on the Nisshin Maru, with the Bob Barker playing bodyguard again for Captain Watson's boat. The Yushin Maru's 1 and 2 leave the Japanese group, and could be hunting again. Meanwhile, a scheme is hatched to flood the factory ship's engines with a water cannon on Season 3, Episode 12 of Whale Wars, but as Captain Watson and crew approach the ship, the Nisshin Maru also hits back with their water cannon. Nonetheless, the Sea Shepherds hit the exhaust pipe with water, but it doesn't affect the Japanese ship. So now the goal is to douse the factory ship's slipway with butyric acid. The small boats Hunter and Delta are launched. The Hunter throws out the prop fouling line where they want it, but it doesn't have any effect.

The Delta's crew hits the slipway numerous times with the smelly stuff and there's lots of self-congratulation, but then both engines stall, and the boat drifts. So the Shonan Maru No. 2 speeds up to intercept it and hit it with water cannons on Whale Wars, Season 3, Episode 12. The Steve Irwin comes to the rescue in the nick of time. As the show ends, Captain Bethune confers with the other Sea Shepherds about boarding the ship via the jet ski. He knows he faces serious prison time for his actions.

Captain Bethune Boards the Shonan Maru No. 2 on Whale Wars, Season 3 Finale, Episode 13

It's early morning and Captain Bethune's attempt is launched in darkness. After some tense moments, it's confirmed that he makes it on board the Japanese ship on his second attempt after falling in the water the first time. He wants to make a citizen's arrest on the captain for allegedly destroying the Ady Gil, but must wait for the Sea Shepherd's helicopter to get off the ground before confronting the captain. The helicopter views Captain Bethune on top of the ship. Captain Bethune then goes onto the bridge and confronts a crewmember outside, then goes inside on the Season 3 Finale, Episode 13 of Whale Wars. Bethune disappears from sight of the helicopter.

Meanwhile, 12 days have gone by without any processing because of the Sea Shepherds' tailing the Nisshin Maru, but when the Shonan Maru No. 2 heads northeast and the factory ship heads south, it's decided to stay on the factory ship, and let the chips fall where they may for Captain Bethune, who sails off to Japan. The media catches wind of it, and worldwide attention ensues. The Steve Irwin is running out of fuel (can hold 200 tons), while the Bob Barker can hold 500 tons of fuel and keeps going. The former then hits a thick patch of ice, and so allows the Bob Barker to lead since it's got a reinforced hull that breaks the ice easily on the Whale Wars, Season 3 Finale, Episode 13. The Steve Irwin heads home, but the Sea Shepherds get a helicopter flight to a large ice berg, happy that they caused the Japanese to miss their quota by 528 whales.

Text at the end of the Season 3 Finale of Whale Wars said Captain Bethune was imprisoned in Japan for 120 days, and deported back to New Zealand after given a 2 year suspended sentence. Whale Wars: From Pirate to Prisoner is a special that's scheduled to air September 6, and will detail Captain Bethune's dealings with the Japanese.

If you need a recap of Season 3 of Whale Wars, Episode 1 is here; 3 here; 4 here; 5 here; 6 here; 7 here; 8 here; 9 here ; 10 here; 11 here

Sources:

"Vendetta" and "To the Ends of the Earth", Whale Wars, August 27, 2010, Animal Planet