The second season of Whale Wars is upon us and outside of the usual management issues there was another prime example of how an organization is trying to to operate efficiently and they continue to act like it’s a tour boat.
A big part of it is management. Your rank in the organization and on that boat seems to be based on how long you’ve been with the organization and how close a friend you are of the captain, Paul Watson.
Once again the first mate, Peter Brown, showed how incompetant he is as an “officer” on that ship as he nearly sunk them navigating ice. I’m not saying it’s an easy task but when you don’t know what you’re doing, you shouldn’t be the one at the wheel, even if you’re the master of the watch.
Then comes the inevitable deployment of a delta that would be a comedy if it wasn’t for the fact that people could die. This time Peter Brown wasn’t the cause of it…at least not directly. Again, they were lowering a delta and again no one securing the bow or aft lines was holding it properly. The lines are dangly as the boat bounced around. The simplest thing to keep the boat from capsizing was to just keep the lines taut.
Granted, the ship was going full speed trying to keep up with their adversary but realistically with a properly trained crew, you could probably make it happen. Still we’re talking about before the delta even touched the water.
Next, the delta after finally launching ends up going the wrong direction and disappears. After it finally shows up they talk about not being able to keep up given the choppy conditions.
This is a great example of how poorly the management on board this vessel (i.e. the officers) are doing such a craptastic job at training and managing their personnel. Sure, everyone on board is volunteering and most of them are green. But, c’mon. They have plenty of time when they’re sailing out to the whaling grounds to train.
While they might be doing some training off camera the way the crew is acting shows they weren’t trained enough. I know it’s not a military vessel but with a constantly rotating crew of volunteers who often have little experience out on a ship, you almost have to. You have to train people and give the right people the responsibility to do so.
It’s even more annoying to see Paul Watson, the captain, getting pissed off at people when they fail to do what he expected them to do, like they were experts at it. I’ve been there. Just because you might be bright and you might understand a lot of what’s going on, theory and practice aren’t the same thing. And, expecting someone who’s been thrust into a role they’ve never performed before to perform like a seasoned sailor is just stupid.
I’m telling you…they are one accident away from disaster. The first time someone dies due to the ineptitude of the officers and that person’s family sues or the press gets a hold of it, they’re done.
I don’t doubt that Paul Watson’s role as a captain isn’t at least partially deserved but that role comes with more responsibility than being the front man of the organization and a good sailor. He needs to ensure the safety of his crew. Training (without using someone like Peter Brown who’d rather tell people they’re going into a dangerous environment and that he and the other officers basically don’t care if they don’t like it) is a starting point. Better communication with more attention to the details that other captains that know they’re getting trained crewmen, such as emergency procedures, reporting structures, and specialized roles, would be another thing they could do. For instance, what happens if they lose a delta with four crewmembers? Does anyone know who will take over the roles they leave behind?
As they’re attempting to plow through the ice, is anyone calling a general alarm so that everyone is at “battle” stations? Why aren’t the quartermasters on the deck with walkie’s looking over the railing and reporting to an officer (the first or second mate) the conditions of the ice and which point on the ship is clear? Why aren’t they preparing for the potential need to abandon ship as they’re surrounded by ice? Why is it just fear spreading amongst the crew that tells them they need to put on their environment suits? Why isn’t someone grabbing a satellite phone, survival supplies and a GPS just in case?
Better yet, why is a ship that’s operating in the Antarctic not reinforced and upgraded (reinforce the bow at least and try to upgrade the engine to compensate for the added weight)? They spent $250k on a hangar for their chopper but didn’t upgrade the ship to handle the ice better?
I love the fact that the officers order two green crewmembers to sit in the bow to handle any breach. They’re looking at each other with that WTF look. So ridiculous.
I’m glad they’re risking lives to make TV more dramatic. How far off are we from gladitorial combat? Oh wait…we’re there.
