By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Dec 31, 2014 at 3:02 PM

Animal Planet is not shy when it comes to protecting the wide world of nature. The relentless determination shines through in multiple programs.

Going in, the viewers know that the cable outlet is home to a slanted coverage in a mission to educate and entertain with footage of the different species that surrounds us.

"Operation Relentless" on Animal Planet’s "Whale Wars" is ready to go after the Japanese vessels, that cruise the ice-filled waters, to slowdown the whaling industry. With a ship named after animal lover and show host Steve Irwin, and a research vessel, the team is out to protect the whales from being hunted and slaughtered.

"The Sea Shepherds are headed back to frigid Antarctica for a tenth mission to stop Japanese whaling – but for the first time they’ll make the voyage without their leader," the channel said about the show.

The next season kicks off on Friday with a three-hour special event at 7 p.m.

"Under legal siege, Captain Paul Watson, founder of the direct-action environmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is forced to hand the mission over to youthful veteran Peter Hammarstedt following a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

"The ruling has Watson's hands tied as it imposes strict limits on how he and his U.S. cohorts in Sea Shepherds can interact with Japanese whaling activities. Animal Planet’s Emmy-nominated series ‘Whale Wars’ goes deep inside the Sea Shepherd organization to document this latest perilous campaign, ‘Operation Relentless.’"

Every episode of the previous six seasons of "Whale Wars" is available on video on demand, so viewers can catch up with the Sea Shepherds before Friday night.

"At the start of the campaign, the United Nation’s International Court of Justice (ICJ), is reviewing a suit bought by the Australian government claiming that Japan has been hunting whales for commercial purposes in Antarctic waters under the guise of science and research," a release from Animal Planet reported.

In an editor’s note, it stated that as of March of 2014, ", the ICJ ruled that Japan’s previous program, JARPAII, was not based on science and is in violation of the moratorium on commercial whaling."

"Whale Wars" uses raw footage filmed by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society during its campaign for the award-winning program. It is an entertaining show just from the visuals of being out at sea. However, the politics of protecting an endangered species and unravelling the conflicts due to the perspectives of different countries at its core, puts a conscious with the action.

INTERVIEW: Fox Business Network’s Peter Barnes will interview Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester exclusively at 8:40 a.m. on Friday. The interview will focus on Mester’s new position as the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President and the news from the American Economic Association (AEA) / Allied Social Science Association meetings (ASSA) annual meeting.

NEW YEAR’S EVE: There will be a number of programs to watch tonight to countdown to 2015 if you are not going out this year. Home parties can tune into the long running "Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve" with host Ryan Seacrest on ABC. The Times Square show will have Taylor Swift, Idina Menzel, Elton John and One Direction performing in different locations.

Carson Daily will be the host of NBC programming with Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga, Seth MacFarlane, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams. And musician Pitbull will host his own gig on Fox with Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy and Fifth Harmony.

News networks will also cover the festivities with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on CNN and the "All-American New Year" on Fox News 

Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

Media is bombarding us everywhere.

Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.

The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.