Discovery Plus marks World Ocean Day with documentary Chasing the Thunder, which it calls “a real-life eco-thriller,” premiering June 8. It is about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society chasing down outlaw fishermen on the oceans.
Paul Watson founded Sea Shepherd.
Chasing the Thunder “propels audiences to the edge of a vast frontier to witness an epic 110-day high seas adrenaline chase across three oceans and two seas,” said Discovery Plus. “Sea Shepherd crews and two fearless captains track down ocean criminals on the notorious poaching vessel the ‘Thunder’ and prove conviction and resilience can do what many unenforced laws cannot – protect the world for marine life and ocean conservation.”
Animal Planet’s Whale Wars previously documented Sea Shepherd’s fight to protect whales in the Antarctic Southern Ocean. Captain Peter Hammarstedt appears in both Whale Wars and Chasing the Thunder.
“As the Thunder makes its haul to catch the protected Antarctic Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass), a highly sought-after prize in the worlds fish market, Captain Hammarstedt, and Captain Sid [Siddharth Chakravarty] and their crews zero in on the fugitive vessel with a shocking and dramatic end after a 10,000-mile sea chase, the longest pursuit of an illegal fishing vessel in history,” added Discovery Plus.
Chasing the Thunder is produced by Brick City TV LLC for discovery+ and Vulcan Productions. Mark Benjamin, Paul G. Allen, Carol Tomko, Rocky Collins and Marc Levin are executive producers. The film is produced by Katie Carpenter and Sam Sielen. Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin direct.
