Contact: Gregg Wooding, I AM PR, 972-567-7660, gregg@iampronline.com 

SAN ANTONIO, TX, Jan. 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Last week's clash between the Japanese whaling ship, the 'Shonan Maru' and the 'Ady Gil', a vessel owned and manned by the eco-terrorist group Sea Shepherd, highlights an animal rights battle that was launched when Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands in 1835 -- a theme explored in detail on a featurette of 'The Mysterious Islands', a newly-released documentary that debunks the conclusions Darwin reaching during his famous voyage of the Beagle. The featurette -- entitled 'The Galapagos Whaling Controversy: A Christian Perspective' -- takes environmental groups such as Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, and PETA head on, and shows how their anti-hunting and worshipful view of animals flows directly from Darwin's theory of evolution.

"The Galapagos Islands were not only a once-great international whaling hub, but --thanks to Charles Darwin -- this archipelago holds the distinction of being the birthplace of the modern animal rights movement," noted Doug Phillips, Executive Producer of 'The Mysterious Islands'.

"Darwin argued that man is not a unique creature supernaturally created by God in His image with a responsibility to exercise dominion over creation, but he is simply another animal," Phillips stated. "Radical environmentalists embrace this as their starting point and thus view man of no greater significance than a fish, a frog, or a whale."

"The Galapagos Whaling Controversy: A Christian Perspective" takes specific aim at Sea Shepherd, an animal rights group founded by Paul Watson who previously helped start Greenpeace before being ousted from their board due to his extreme tactics.

"The liberal news media and Discovery Channel's popular reality show, Whale Wars, has sought to portray Paul Watson and his fellow Sea Shepherd cronies as folk heroes as they have repeatedly engaged in acts of terror on the high seas," Phillips continued. "Watson's recent charge of piracy against the 'Shonan Maru' is disingenuous doublespeak, as he has boasted of sinking numerous whaling vessels from Iceland to Antarctica over the years, visibly displaying images of the ships he has sunk on the side of his own renegade vessels. Watson has personally been convicted of sabotage many times over -- he's the real pirate in this whole affair.

"Watson has declared that 'there's nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win. Then you write the history,'" Phillips noted. "He has also said that 'If you don't know an answer, a fact, a statistic, then ... make it up on the spot.' Watson is legendary as a yarn-spinner, and the news media has largely overlooked his chronic duplicity."

The methods of the eco-terrorist group Sea Shepherd are well-documented and include the use of limpet mines to scuttle whaling boats, hurling bottles of foul-smelling butyric acid on rival ships, and rifle fire, among other violent tactics.

"Watson speaks regularly of the 'virus of humanity' and has declared openly that 'in this war between our species and the others . . . I side most passionately with them against us, a proud traitor to my species,'" Phillips observed. "Watson has also stated that 'earthworms are far more valuable than people' and that he stands 'in opposition to . . . those parasites who believe the Earth is here to serve human interests.' His conclusion is a frightening one: 'We need to radically and intelligently reduce human population to fewer than one billion.'"

Phillips concluded: "Watson's anti-human worldview flows from a radical brand of Darwinism that is at war with God. He and his Sea Shepherd associates reject the biblical teaching that man is God's appointed steward over the creation. They advance their terrorist agenda with a twisted religious ferocity that shows that they worship the creature rather than the Creator."

"The Mysterious Islands" film -- which comes with 'The Galapagos Whaling Controversy' bonus feature -- was shot last year on the Galapagos Islands as the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, On the Origins of Species. The film recently enjoyed successful premiers in ten cities across the nation, from Tampa to Birmingham, with opening night audiences of more than 2,500 and 1,300 moviegoers respectively.

The film retraces Darwin's steps on the Galapagos and shows how he erred in his observations concerning the amazing and unusual creatures that inhabit these islands. The film's conclusion: that the Galapagos Islands are a showcase for God's creation, not a laboratory for evolution, as Darwin maintained.

Visit the official "The Mysterious Islands" website at: www.themysteriousislands.com

To interview Doug Phillips regarding "The Mysterious Islands", contact Gregg Wooding of I AM PR Services at gregg@iampronline.com or by phone at (972) 567-7660.