these are the heroes doing their part to save the gulf of mexico. >> larry: tonight -- they're willing to die to save whales. >> i can't get to the quick release. >> hold on, hold on, hold on! slow down! >> larry: life and death drama on the high seas. >> they're going down. >> larry: but are they going too far? plus, bob barker on the ship

named in his honor. >> he said if i have $5 million, i could do it. and i said, all right, you have $5 million. let's do it. >> larry: why he defends radical tactics. the cast of "whale wars" next on "larry king live." >> larry: good evening. we're talking tonight with people who say they're ready to sacrifice their own lives to save whales. the controversial anti-whaling activities of the sea shepherd conservation society are chronicled on the documentary style reality show "whale wars" now in its third season on animal planet. we welcome captain paul watson, founder of sea shepherd, a co-founding director of the greenpeace foundation. captain of the "bob barker" and

fiona, a member of the sea shepherd crew of the "bob barker." the most amped up in your face yet season of "whale wars" occurs now. it premiered last month and is going to be a heck of a year for animal planet and for them and for us to have them with us. how did you get into this? why do you whale save? >> i've been doing this pretty much all my life. but it really goes back to 1977 when i was on a greenpeace mission. and the soviets had just harpooned a whale, and it turned to defend, and it was harpooned in turn, and as it was struggling and dying in agony, i caught its eye, and dove and i saw bubbles. he came up over a small, inflatable boat. as that eye came up out of the water and i looked into it, i saw something there that changed my life forever. >> larry: which was? >> understanding. he understood what we were trying to do. i could see the effort he made to pull himself back and i saw

his eye disappear beneath the surface and died. he could have killed us and chose not to do so. >> larry: why do they harpoon whales, chuck? for what? >> they say they're trying to maintain traditional cultures, their way of life and so on. >> larry: who is they? >> well, whoever is killing whales whether it's the japanese, the icelandic people or norway. they say they're trying to maintain their traditional ways of life but in fact it's illegal and it's a commercial operation. >> larry: they're the three countries involved? >> primarily right now, yes. >> larry: are there no laws against it, fiona? >> since 1986 it was actually illegal to kill -- commercially kill whales around the world. some countries do justify that they can through a loophole in the regulation for scientific purposes, but these days we know we can take all scientific information by just taking a small slab from the whale and from that blubber and the skin, you can actually work out how much mercury's in the system,

and how much toxins and the information you need. >> larry: what do you do to save them? what are examples of what you do? a ship is coming along, he's going to harpoon a whale, what do you do? >> we found the best way is to hit them where it hurts most economically. so we interfere with their operations and cut their quotas. we saved 528 whales, so we saved more than they killed. by just being there, by being on their stern, chasing them, harassing them, making it impossible for them to -- >> larry: you don't physically harm them? >> we've never physically injured anybody. but we do get in their way, obstruct them, and harass them with our stink bombs, which make work very difficult for them when we hit them. >> larry: let's take a look at highlights from this season's "whale wars." >> wondering if maybe they were shining their spotlights at us so they can arrange things on deck without us noticing or seeing what they're doing. it was just us alone against this fleet of ships.

it's dark out. and not knowing where they were, what they were doing, or what they planned on doing, it's really scary. it's a really scary thought. >> it was quite intimidating, they were running circles around us. >> we came down to engage the fleet to piss them off. there is a certain fear. if you're t-boned, that's where ships sink in seconds. >> where is the other one? they're coming up on us fast. >> he's angling at us. >> holy [ bleep ]. >> he's coming right at us. >> oh, my gosh! >> just get in closer. >> got in the wake. >> don't worry about that. >> what's that thing? >> what's that thing he's got? >> i don't know. >> he has a gun. did you see him? >> it's gone.

>> larry: how did you get into this, chuck? >> i worked with a number of different organizations before i heard about sea shepherd and one of the people that knew me the best walked up to me one day with a sea shepherd brochure and said i think you need to know about these guys. the more i researched, because i like to know what i'm getting involved in, you know, they're passionate, aggressive, but absolutely nonviolent, and take all kinds of sometimes rad cam actions for means of enforcing conservation laws and it's an intoxicating mix. how can you not want to be involved in that? i signed up and have been doing it for 20 years. >> larry: fiona, how many sea shepherders are there? >> we have 77 individuals from 17 different nations but, look, there are people who go on the boats and people who have worked for us onshore. it's a volunteer organization. i've been working for years as a volunteer. >> larry: you make no living from this? >> no, i don't.

i'm living in a hostel at the moment in los angeles. that's the beautiful thing about this organization. it's got a completely different structure than the other big environmental organizations. when people give their money, it does go towards the campaigns and the boats not huge office rents and salaries. >> larry: captain, how did the tv show start, paul? >> we thought when you look at the largest show on discovery which is "the deadliest catch," i figure these are people going out in the water in rough weather to catch crabs, going down in even rougher weather in a more remote area to save whales had to be even more compelling. >> larry: good idea. back with more right after this.

there are four ships designed to hunt and kill large mammals maneuvering aggressively around us. >> we are heading for the "shonan maru." but we have got to hurry up because the harpoon ships are on our tail. we're very fragile ship. drop it now. tell him to drop it now! >> woo-hoo! >> larry: joining us from morocco is laurens de groot, after two campaigns aboard the sea shepherd ship flagship "steve irwin" he

joined the crew of the ship the shonan maru" described by some as a bat mobile on water. here's a look at some of that drama on "whale wars." >> our harpoon interceptor vessel. it goes right through the water. it has a kevlar shell. the vessel's pretty much bulletproof. >> the "ady gil" is to be the nimble rocket ship the "steve irwin" is not. its mission, to cut the whalers' harpoon lines. >> i checked everything i have into building an amazing boat. >> whoa. whoa. >> holy [ bleep ]. >> did they hit it?

>> i can't see. >> i think they hit him. >> get some binoculars. get some binoculars. >> do you see people? >> no, i don't see any people. oh, my god. >> larry: lauren, thanks for joining us. you were on the "ady gil" when it went down. what happened? >> well, we were drifting at the point when we got rammed. we tried to slow it down, so the "bob barker" could slow it up, so they couldn't kill any more whales. we were running very low on fuel. one of the last ships passing by was the "shonan maru" number two and as it was passing by, at the end, it made a very sharp turn to the right. it was too late for us to get out of the way and it rammed us. >> larry: did that change your feelings about sea shepherd? did it increase them? what did you think? >> oh, no, it made me even more determined to go back every year

and stop the illegal whaling operations. and you know, there are always risks when you choose to join a sea shepherd campaign. and you're dealing with criminals, illegal poaching. these are ruthless people. they don't back down even if they need to ram the ship. it showed they're willing to do it. >> larry: captain watson, what was the result on the sea shepherds' efforts? >> it was a loss of a $2 million vessel and what's surprising to me is the captain has not been questioned by any authority after ramming and destroying our ship. he got away with it completely. >> larry: do you know who he is? >> we know who he is, and it's all on videotape. and australia did an inquiry. they said japan refused to cooperate with the investigation so that was the end of it. i don't know of any case in maritime history where another person has destroyed a ship and walked away from it without any repercussions. >> larry: we know what the "bob barker" is. what is the "ady gil"? >> an individual who put up the

funds to purchase two-thirds of that vessel. and so we named it after him for that reason. >> larry: do you think, captain swift, about taking risks? >> absolutely. anytime we get involved with these actions, there are inherent risks. but we're all briefed. we know what's possible down there. our resolve and passion, our determination to shut down the illegal activities overrides all of that. >> larry: fiona, do you have a specific duty on the ship? >> i was rescue swimmer. put up my home. not thinking it was quite a significant accident. i was also a deck hand, with painting and sanding and launching small boats and learned a lot very different from my normal commercial property job, that's for sure. >> larry: laurens, how did you get involved in all of this? >> i was a former crime investigator for the dutch police. after doing that for three years and before that working five years on the streets, i was getting -- my specialty became

environmental crimes and i got so involved in the atrocities happening to the animals around the world. one of the animals are the whales and i thought if we can't protect these species, what can we protect. so i decided to give them my job, and yeah, join an organization that is actually doing something out there to protect the whales. >> larry: well, you do this voluntarily, right? >> yes. it's an international volunteer organization. >> larry: what do you do for a living? >> i'm paid because i've been with the organization for 30 years. i captain the ship as a volunteer. >> larry: what do you do, chuck? >> i'm a paid employee. i'm the deputy chief executive officer of the organization as well as captain of the "bob barker." >> larry: fiona, you're not paid? >> i'm not paid and that's the survival of environmental organizations because we really want the money to go towards international conservation law and enforcing it. >> larry: laurens, are you paid? >> yes, i am. i'm currently working as a european coordinator trying to set up more chapters of the sea shepherd in europe. >> larry: "whale wars" airs

fridays on animal planet. you should see it. how aggressive are the anti-whaling forces willing to get? we'll ask them next. ancan stream livdeo to t web. firshaan hdmi out.♪ rst shar wi-fi with 8 devic at ce. rst is notteen fur firshaan hdmi out.♪ pledunder in al hous firswh will do firsthing. with e, e rs4g? firshaan hdmi out.♪ ly fm rint,thnone deafhaand opitspee dit access www.sprinty we're with you when you're saving for your dreams. [ woman ] when you want a bank that travels with you. with you when you're ready for the next move. [ male announcer ] now that wells fargo and wachovia have come together, what's in it for you? unprecedented strength, the stability of the leading community bank in the nation and with 12,000 atms and thousands of branches, we're with you in more ways and places than ever before. with you when you want the most from your bank.

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we're ready on deck. >> as the captain, i certainly need to be able to provide leadership, and make the tough decisions. and you know, that's what i do. >> matt. launch. >> you piece of -- ♪ >> larry: we're back. pete bethune was the captain of the "ady gil" on trial in japan, he's accused of trespassing, vandalism, possession of a knife, obstruction business and assault. what did he do, captain watson? >> pete bethune boarded the

"shonan maruii" to confront the captain of the ship who had destroyed his ship. he was taken prisoner back to japan and given all these charges. >> larry: you have expelled him? >> yes, we did. because pete is a character. he certainly is a bit of a cowboy. there is no arguing with his passion. he did break rules and regulations. it is a good thing that we did, it helps his case in japan. >> larry: will he get a lot of years? >> they are concerned he will go back to antarctica, one of the reasons they don't want to let him to go, so i'm making it clear to the japanese he won't be back in antarctica. we do want him to be free. pete is really a hero for what he did. we support him 100%. >> larry: the international whaling commission, iwc has been meeting in morocco, what has come of that? >> well, it's the biggest waste of tax money i have ever seen. so far, earlier this week, a

british newspaper revealed there is all kind of corruption. japan is buying votes, buying and offering prostitutes to delegates of several countries. i thought that was going to be the main topic on this iwc that is here in agadir, morocco, it is not. yesterday it was a small victory for the whales when there were the plans to uplift the ban on whaling, and fortunately that is still in place. still, commercial whaling is not allowed. yeah, japan, iceland, norway will continue illegal whaling. >> larry: not allowed but done. japan slammed the sea shepherd during the iwc gathering saying the attacks are becoming more aggressive. are they? >> what they mean they're becoming more effective. we saved 528 whales this last season which is more than they killed. we've cost them tens of millions of dollars in losses. we understand that the best way to stop them is hit them where it hurts, economically. our objective is to sink the fleet economically. we haven't injured any of them. we're really at a disadvantage. they're trying to kill us out there. we're trying to do what we are doing making sure we don't injure any of them. >> larry: is their defense,

chuck, their defense, these are whales. we're making a living. how are we different than fishermen? >> well -- >> larry: fishermen kill fish. >> fishermen kill fish. the fact is fishing is not illegal. sea shepherd enforces international conservation laws. the actions japan is taking are illegal. that's why we're going after that. >> larry: is it because we emotionally feel different about the whale than the fish? >> well, i think -- some people have an attachment to whales and seals and dolphins. that's why the sea shepherd focuses primarily on these. if we can't save these animals that we have, some intrinsic connection that we have, no chance of saving the rest of them. >> larry: what do you think of the people who do go and harpoon them? >> they're breaking international conversation law. look, of course there are people who are wanting to also feed their own families, and empathy there, everyone needs to make a living. but these people are illegally poaching wild animals. in the last five years, humans have actually realized how important biodiversity is.

if we don't have all the wild animals in the word, humans will die as well. so the whales -- you know, we are helping the whales. the whale is symbolic. we can't save the most popular wild animal in the world, what's the hope of actually saving the small animals like the frog. >> larry: we'll be back in a minute. are there any rules of the road when it comes to engagement between these combatants? that's next.

cable is away. >> hang on. don't go too quick, bro'. >> this is not good. >> i can't get to the quick release. it's jammed. >> hold on! hold on! slow down!

>> larry: before we show you some apparatus here on the desk, i want to ask laurens de groot, in morocco, are there rules of the road here? >> well, both sides, not. we are not out to hurt anyone. that is an important rule that we always stick to. >> larry: they're not out to hurt you, are they, they just don't want you there, right? >> correct. we don't even want to be there as well. but, yeah, it's up to japan. they should just get out of there and we won't be there either. >> larry: thanks for that, laurens. what have you got in front of you there, fiona? >> one of the pieces of the "ady gil," one of the last remaining pieces. obviously this boat was sunk, it sunk shortly after it was rammed into by one of the harpoon boats. very nearly killed six men. so anyway, we lost the boat. but, yeah, we didn't have any injuries. >> larry: do you have a suit you wear? >> i do.

one of the mustang suits. normally in the waters down there, it's so frigid, that after two or three minutes, you would be hypothermic and ha no chance of survival. with these you get 20, 30 minutes. plenty of time for a recovery. >> larry: what is that? in front? >> a net. sea shepherd has been active not only about whales, seals, doll fins, but also about fishing. we just had a campaign in the mediterranean released 800 tuna. this just shows. you can see how tangled this. i mean, seals, whales, dolphins, sharks, swordfish, all kind of what they call bi catch, or extra products. >> larry: bonus. >> horrendous. like clear cutting the ocean. >> larry: do they have feelings for the fish that they're doing this to, do you think? >> i don't think so. it's seen as a resource. something to consume, sell for profit. >> larry: what's the book, captain? >> we maintain a logbook of everything. we submitted this to the australian/new zealand investigators. they looked at our logbook, but

japan wouldn't give them theirs, so they only have one side. >> larry: you describe what is happening? >> every day, put down the position. and the hours. and, you know, keep track of every incident that happens. >> larry: like a log? >> it's actually a legal document. so if there is any court case or anything, this is our proof. it all has to be in pen. you can't do it in pencil. that can be erased. >> larry: do you think you will meet your goal and stop this? >> absolutely. i think more and more people are getting aware that whaling is truly barbaric, shouldn't have a place here in the 21st century. so, pretty confident we will shut down whaling once and for all. >> larry: you think so, fiona? >> absolutely. >> larry: you do? it's been going on how long? >> it's been going on for hundreds of years. but it is not tradition for commercial whaling, you know, i mean in the olden days that's fine. there were a few whales taken for small villages in japan.

but going down after world war ii, to antarctica, taking 1,000 whales, southern ocean sanctuary is not a cultural thing at all. and, i think the whole world is realizing that, you know, we want an end to whaling. i think it will definitely end. the sea shepherd will go back time and time again until we make sure that we put them out economically. >> larry: what waters are you in mostly, captain? >> all the arctic oceans, the southern oceans, just the entire antarctic peninsula. >> larry: what kind of whale is it that they're getting? >> they had a self-provided quota of 995 minke whales. >> larry: what is that? >> it's a smaller whale. they're distributed widely throughout the world. and they go down like the other whales to feed. when the ice melts there is an algae bloom, and the crill feed on the algae. the whales go down to feed on the crill. in short that's the biological perspective. during our winter it is summer in antarctica, the ice melts and whales migrate down there. >> larry: you saw the eye, captain watson, are whales smart?

>> scientists are now discovering that whales are self-aware, sentient beings. i think they're highly intelligent. when people say that is ridiculous, that only humans are intelligent, i equate intelligence with the ability to live in harmony with our environment, and by that criteria, we're not that intelligent at all. when you look at whales you are looking at a real mind in the ocean. i believe that one day through the use of computers we'll be able to communicate with the species. i think that's an exciting possibility. >> larry: the way they die is how? >> they're harpooned. it is a very agonizing death. none of this would be tolerated at any slaughterhouse in the world. last year we filmed one whale that was struck and it took 25 minutes to die after being hit with an explosive harpoon, being shot at continuously with high-powered rifles. a whale can take from ten minutes up to two hours to die. there is nothing really quite as cruel like this in any other part of the animal world. >> larry: laurens, have you

witnessed these killings? >> yeah, i was there on the last campaign. and, yeah, indeed we saw the whale being harpooned. it is incredibly horrific. even today i heard here in greenland, also killing whales, they shot a whale and it took over 120 minutes to die. yeah, it's just insane. >> larry: that is insane. laurens, thank you for the work you do. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> larry: laurens de groot from morocco. where does bob barker fit in all of this? he'll join our panel next. it combines extra strength bayer aspirin to treat pain plus an alertness aid to help you get off to a running start. try bayer am the morning pain reliever.

the search is on tonight for two american soldiers missing and reportedly kidnapped in afghanistan. nato says they left their compound in kabul friday and never came back. an intelligence source said militants abducted both of them. five other u.s. soldiers were killed in bombings in the southern part of the country.

in the midwest, massive rainfall in iowa caused a dam to fail. rushing waters burst through the dam a few hours ago. so far, there are no reports of injuries. the area is mainly rural, and much of the affected area is farmland. rey governor has issued disaster declarations for two counties. in the gulf the ships have turned around and are headed back to the deep horizon drilling site. tropical storm bonnie has lost clout. officials say the static kill which consists of pumping dense mud into the well could start in less than a week. those are your headlines this hour. i'm don lemon keeping you informed. cnn, the most trusted name in news. to take it as safely as possible, attach a line and tow it out.

>> i'm getting out, too. >> put the engine down. push it out. straight out. you all right? i'm going to start it, give it a little push. >> at which point i made the decision i am going to start the engine and just drive it onto the rocks. >> oh, my god. oh. whoa, whoa, whoa! whoa! >> larry: captain watson, captain swift, and bob barker joins us, of course, the iconic tv personality, longtime animal rights activist. he donated $5 million to sea shepherd for the retrofitting of the vessel now christened in his honor. take a look.

>> announcer: 4,000 miles away, a covert mission is under way, a mission that has been kept secret from the japanese whaling fleet. the sea shepherd has quietly been rebuilding the vessel for three months now they want to sneak the ship to antarctica to surprise the whaling fleet. >> all aboard! >> we're moving. we're moving. we're moving. >> the sea shepherd! >> hell, yes. >> we're finally on our way to antarctica, yeah, we are all stoked, yes. >> quite frankly, i don't really care about what people think about what we do. they can criticize us all they

want. but their opinions mean nothing to me. >> larry: bob, how did you connect with the whale group? i see you with animals, i don't see you with whales? >> well, i have a dear friend named nancy burnett, who is a leading animal rights activist in the country. and she is a long-time admirer of sea shepherd. she's mentioned them several times. but this year, she heard that they needed a new ship. and she called me, and she said, you ought to talk with paul watson and help them out. so paul and i met. and i was very impressed with him, as i'm sure you are. and i listened to what he had to say about what he needed, and he explained as he has to you today, he explained to me that he was trying to sink the japanese whaling fleet economically. and he said, if i had $5 million, i could do it.

and i said, all right you, have $5 million. let's do it. and he's had a great year. they made no money. >> larry: the price is right. have you seen -- have you watched the show? >> no, i've never seen it. >> larry: do you see it now? >> i see it now. >> larry: what do you think, captain watson, ask the guy for $5 million, he gives it to you. >> it is exceedingly generous. bob's got a long history of helping animals. bob did a psa for us 20 years ago. >> yes, i did. that's right. >> larry: you need people in the world -- it's okay to go out. you need the bob barkers, don't you? >> absolutely. any battle needs different positions filled. and without the support of people like bob barker or just the average populace, we could never do what we are doing. >> larry: bob, i guess, all your life it has really bothered you

that people would harm an animal of any kind, right? >> it has. i have loved animals my entire life. >> larry: do you remember when it started that you got so upset to become active? were you a kid? >> well, i was -- as a kid i picked up strays. i brought home strays. i lived in a little town in south dakota. and my mother and i lived in a hotel. it was the only two-story building in town. and out on the rose bud indian reservation. there was a stairway up to the roof. when she wanted to find me when i was a little boy she would go up on the roof and look for the dogs because i had a pack of dogs with me always. and i -- i have always. >> larry: all of your lifetime? >> all my life. but i was the honorary chairman of be kind to animals week here in los angeles one year. years ago. maybe 35, 40 years ago. and as such, i did radio interviews and television interviews.

and i talked with people, and i was invited by various organizations to participate in their activities. and i did. and as i did, i began to be aware of the horrendous exploitation and mistreatment of animals in our country, in the world, as a matter of fact. as i did, i just felt compelled to try to do what i could to rectify the situation. >> larry: what -- what, captain swift, is an engagement like? >> thrilling. >> larry: do you yell at each other? can you verbally communicate with these people who do these things? >> i have specifically told my crew not to yell, engage, or make rude hand gestures or anything. we're there to shut them down financially. the best thing we can do to accomplish the goal is blockade. >> larry: what do they do? >> in this case, they ran over our ship, which is attempted murder on six crew members. they rammed into the vessel "bob

barker," the ship i was captaining, ripped a six-foot gash in the side. that was about 4 inches deep. and they proved quite aggressive. these are people that for years have proven they have no disregard for the life -- >> larry: no regard. >> no regard for the life of whales or the laws protecting the whales. this year they proved they have the same disregard for human life. >> larry: does it shock you, fiona, to see this? it would shock me. >> absolutely. i think when i grew up, i did think that it was a perfect world. just realizing humans, 6 billion of us, about to become 12 billion, there is a lot of bad things going on. a lot of mistreatment in animals. unfortunately we are heading towards a pretty scary situation with the population exploding and we need to conserve every wild animal we have. and that's why it's so important the sea shepherd is out there actually enforcing international conversation law. the u.n. should be doing it. navy should be doing. federal governments should be doing it. but they're not doing it. and so we are doing it. we're doing an extremely effective job for such a small

organization. >> larry: what does bob think about sea shepherd's tactics especially with his name on the side of their ship? find out after the break.

i hate to interrupt your breakfast. that was a great moral victory for us today. they hang up the nets and we're just looping around to get it on the deck. we messed that up really bad. you could smell the tear gas. >> sweet smell of napalm in the morning. >> yeah! >> larry: we're back. bob, critics slam the aggressiveness of sea shepherd's tactics, warning that one day somebody's going to be injured or killed. your name's on that ship.

do their tactics bother you? >> no, their tactics don't bother me a bit. absolutely not. now this year, i think that -- that these three folks will agree, the japanese whalers were much more aggressive than they have ever been. were they not? >> absolutely, yeah. >> and the aggression and the problems were the japanese not the sea shepherd. >> larry: what do you think of the people who whale? not the sea shepherders, but the people who whale. they're earning a living. >> there are so many ways to earn a living. that's no excuse. i have nothing but -- i can't use the language that i would use to describe whalers. there was a time when people were going out and getting whales and using them in a useful way. today, the japanese say they're doing research, they're not doing research at all.

they're filling the shelves of grocery stores in japan with whale meat. >> larry: what's a useful way? >> well, they were using it for lights. they were using it as fuel. >> larry: to live. >> eating the blubber and so on. but they aren't doing that today. >> larry: captain watson, what is operation waltzing matilda? >> to honor the australian people without their support we wouldn't have a base of operations. that's where we launch our campaigns from. and one of the things that we're really concerned about this next year is that, because no action was taken against the captain of the "shonan maru," was given a green light to the japanese to be even more aggressive next year. so we are really worried that they're going to intensify their violence they've sunk one of our ships and got away with it. they will possibly try to do it again. >> larry: if this was a show in japan and they were on, what would they say about you?

>> they would question our tactics, question our integrity, say that we were impinging on their cultural rights and all of that, and completely ignore the fact that they're in flagrant violation of the laws. >> larry: they would deny it if the host brought up the law what would they say? >> they would say it is their national right to do what they want to do. >> also they have research right on the side of their ships. >> on them. >> larry: oh, to get away with it. >> yeah. >> larry: do you have any idea how many whales you save? >> we know we saved 528 whales in our last campaign in antarctica, i mean, we have saved thousands and thousands of whales, the sea shepherd, has done a brilliant job of doing that. also raising awareness as well. i came over to find the sea shepherd because i wanted to find an organization that was tackling an australian issue because it's so close to our land. and sea shepherds was the one that brought it to the world's attention. and thanks to "whale wars i've "as well, it's becoming a

worldwide issue, and starting a lot of conversations. not just about whales, but about the biodiverse tiff. >> larry: it was secret. >> it worked brilliantly. it showed up and the harpoon vessels saw it. i asked chuck to put up the norwegian flag. and it sailed right to the ship. they were not aware of the existence of the "bob barker" until it showed up. >> larry: you've got to be very proud, bob. "whale wars" airs friday on animal planet. i sustained a very severe blast injury. my life just came to a complete halt. how are you doing? >> you look sharp today. >> thank you.

>> i've been building custom homes for 30 years. >> one of the most important things for a family is a home. ive want you to read that sign for me. >> future home of sergeant alexander reyes. >> it means the world. >> thank you. that's all i can say. >> my name is dan. we build homes for returning heroes from iraq and afghanistan. the houses are mortgage-free. it changes the whole family's lives. it gives them a new start so they can move forward. these young men and women are doing this for you and me. how could i not help them.

i'm wondering if maybe they're shining spotlights at us for arranging things ondeck without us noticing, or seeing.

>> it's just us against this fleet of ships. it's dark out of. not knowing where they were, what they were doing, or what they planned on doing. it's really scary. it's a really scary thought. >> larry: we're back with our remaining moments. captain walt son, what do you make of this whole situation in the gulf? >> we're preparing a vessel to go over to the gulf. it's been very difficult, because bp said we can't go in there to rescue animals. my concern is they're taking the bodies of turtles and dolphins and burning them at night so people don't see what's going on. >> larry: you know that? >> yeah, it's documented. people are putting the information out. they don't want people to see the extent of the damage and number of lives killed amongst the wildlife. i want to know why is british petroleum calling the shots here, why isn't the federal government and sufficient coast guard doing it. >> larry: what do you make of

that whole thing? >> that's a very good question. >> obviously it's a disaster. >> larry: you see those animals. >> it's heart-wrenching. think of the long-term ramifications. we're having effects right now in the fishing industry, but the shrimp, fish, breed in they was shallow areas. this is going to be a decades-long issue. >> larry: fiona? >> the blue fin spawns in two places and that's the gulf of mexico and the mediterranean. they're getting a double whammy at the moment. it's very scary. the scary thing is, we can't do anything about it. we have to put all our hope that they can stop it. it's going still right now. that's the scary thing. >> larry: the animals, what does it do to you? >> i can't stand to look at the pictures. it's all over television now. of course, the newspapers. i can't bear to look at those pictures. it's terrible.

peta wants to have the government file animal cruelty laws -- suits against the british petroleum. that's a good idea. >> that's a good idea, yeah. >> larry: the whale show, how long are you committed to this? this could go on for a long time, this animal planet. unless you succeed, there's no more harpooning. >> i think we're the only television show that really wants to put itself off the air, and we can do that by succeeding. every year we hope we can shut this down and that will be the last "whale wars" show. that's our ultimate goal is to put ourselves off the air. >> larry: what is your satisfaction of what you do? >> very satisfying. we saw saw whales eight or ten times down there. both times we careful up and started our blockade, within 30 minutes we saw a pod of whales. it kind of recharges your batteries. there's a lot of stress involved in what we do. it's so nice to see the wilderness down there. >> larry: what satisfaction do you get, bob? you're not out on the ship. >> oh, i have such a great

feeling of pride to be associated with people like this. in any way. i truly do. to think what they're doing, they're risking their lives in an effort to save one of nature's most beautiful creations. and i am a part of it. i'm grateful for the opportunity. >> larry: fiona, what satisfaction do you get? >> so much satisfaction. i'm going to devote the rest of my life to representing animals. and trying to make it a different world for them. i really do hope we have a turn-around. and we do conserve at least what we have left. we really do have only a little left of the wild left. >> larry: captain watson, you, who started all this? you must get the greatest satisfaction. >> i don't think people realize just how intimately we are connected with life in the ocean. and with the diminishment of