Whale Wars is a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard their various vessels harass Japanese whalers off the coast of Antarctica. On December 27, 2011, Animal Planet renewed the series for a fifth season.See also: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operations, Whaling controversy, and anti-whalingIn 2007, Paul Watson persuaded the Discovery Channel to make a reality show about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's campaign against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary off the coast of Antarctica. The Japanese claim that their whaling is legally research, which Sea Shepherd and others contend is a cover for banned commercial whaling.[4] Sea Shepherd has been both criticized and praised for tactics of direct action sabotage which include throwing stink bombs of butyric acid (a naturally occuring non-corrosive acid) as well as ramming, boarding, and otherwise attempting to disable the Japanese vessels.The program premiered on November 7, 2008, on the Animal Planet cable channel and follows events on the vessel Steve Irwin as the group attempts to deter the hunting of Minke, Humpback and Fin whales in the Southern Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and North Atlantic . The show came at a time when Animal Planet was being rebranded to attract broader audiences and compete with non-animal-centric programming.