Chronicles the Sea Shepherds 2012 "Zero Tolerance" mission that is in peril even before it gets started. Watson is forced to step down as the Sea Shepherds leader just as their fledging armada leaves for the Southern Ocean. He has been the target of two Interpol "red alerts" (which seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view toward extradition) and a ruling from the United States Ninth District Circuit Court that provides strict limits on how the Sea Shepherds can "interact" with Japanese whaling activities. Because of this, Paul must remove himself from his leadership role with the Sea Shepherds. Everyone on board the boats is rattled by the news - now questioning how his/her important mission and the environmental organization itself can succeed without his presence.
Captain Paul Watson founded his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1977 because he believed his new organization had to go even further to eradicate whaling, poaching, shark finning and habitat destruction - and to uphold international conservation laws on the high seas - than the Greenpeace group he had co-founded.
For several years, Watson's group of staff and volunteers have engaged in a campaign almost every winter to find and stop Japanese ships that hunt whales in the name of research, attempting to stop them by any non-unhappy means necessary. The eclectic group - labeled activists, heroes and/or eco-pirates - leave port in Melbourne, Australia for a two-month campaign that is dangerous, controversial and has garnered international media attention. Sea Shepherd's dedicated, international crew have spent their holiday the last several years and risked their lives at the bottom of the Earth to save whales. (Source: Animal Planet)
Whale Wars - A Commander Rises Synopsis and Schedule