I was just watching this for the first time about 7 minutes ago. I was rooting for the whalers. Why don’t these guys have guns on board?
They do they have rifles to shoot the whales if they don't die by harpoon.
They had a scene in Season 1 where Captain Coco Puffs got "shot" and he was miraculously saved by a badge he was wearing. Most people who know Paul Watson know he is a master of propaganda so most think he faked it.