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ANIMAL PLANET DEBUTS GROUNDBREAKING FIRST INTERACTIVE EPISODE, ‘WHALE WARS: BLOOD AND WATER,’ AT ANIMALPLANET.COM

Made-for-Online Episode Dynamically Explores 50 Years of Defending Whales, Leading Up to December 13th WHALE WARS Television Event

December 5, 2013

Contact - Amber Harris
Vice President, Communications & Social Media
240-662-5235
Contact - Kate Delmonico
Manager, Communications & Social Media
240-662-6513

Silver Spring, Md. – As Animal Planet’s iconic series WHALE WARS returns with a two-hour special television event on December 13, the network is introducing its first-ever interactive episode, Whale Wars: Blood and Water, online at AnimalPlanet.com/WhaleWars. Featuring never-before-seen footage and storytelling leveraging parallax scrolling, Blood and Water invites viewers to step back to witness the events that have shaped Paul Watson’s philosophical mission and the Sea Shepherds’ myriad of campaigns.

Gripping and immersive, Whale Wars: Blood and Water is made for online audiences and envelops viewers in the story of international whaling and the fight to bring it to an end. The interactive episode takes audiences on a journey through thought-provoking documentary vignettes, moving personal photos from Watson’s life, unique insights into the Japanese whaling industry, beautiful interactive features – including animated battle maps and fighting ships, and a sneak peek from the two-hour WHALE WARS: A COMMANDER RISES special. 

The episode features five chapters:

  • The Questions of Whaling: Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherds believe they have the right to intervene on behalf of whales. Japan thinks otherwise.
  • Whale Power: For centuries, mankind used whales for food and fuel. In fact, whales once powered the world.
  • To Conserve and Protect: As recently as 50 years ago, whales were considered to be a resource but, as the world began to modernize, a new mindset began to emerge.
  • It’s Called War for a Reason: Every year, Japan aims to hunt or kill more than 1,000 whales and, for the last nine years, the Sea Shepherd fleet has been there to stop them.
  • An Uncertain Future: As the Sea Shepherds leave port for their latest campaign, Paul is prevented from captaining the fleet. This leaves the fate of the whales in the hands of a new generation.

The Sea Shepherds’ war against Japanese whaling is truly a story of epic proportions, and one we felt would be best told through multiple media woven together into a single narrative," said Miguel Monteverde, Vice President of Digital Media, Discovery Communications. "Blood and Water, our first interactive episode, represents a new type of storytelling experience that's richer and more immersive than anything we've done before at Discovery Digital Media."

Through five seasons, Animal Planet’s WHALE WARS has followed Captain Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace co-founder, as he ventures through the dangerous seas of the Antarctic to save the lives of the majestic whales as captain of the Steve Irwin. He has tangled with many governments across the globe in a mission to save animals he loves and has made many enemies along the way. In WHALE WARS: A COMMANDER RISES, Watson is forced to step down as the Sea Shepherds' leader just as their fledging armada leaves for the Southern Ocean, causing those on board the boats to question how their important mission and the environmental organization itself can succeed without his leadership.

Whale Wars: Blood and Water was produced by Discovery Digital Studios and is available at AnimalPlanet.com/WhaleWars. WHALE WARS: A COMMANDER RISES, chronicling the Sea Shepherds’ 2012 “Zero Tolerance” mission, premieres on Animal Planet on Friday, December 13 from 9-11pm ET/PT.

 

About Animal Planet

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 2 billion cumulative subscribers in over 220 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through more than 190 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Hub Network and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Across the Nordic region, Discovery owns and operates SBS Discovery Media, a top-three portfolio of television brands that feature leading nonfiction content, as well as locally produced entertainment programs, sports and the best scripted series and movies from major studios. Discovery also owns Discovery Education, the leading provider of educational content and services to schools including an award-winning series of K-12 digital textbooks, and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

 

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