Hurricane Season Has a Huge Impact on ‘Deadliest Catch’
Deadliest Catch doesn’t just earn its name from fishermen’s turbulent journeys to haul in pounds of Alaskan king crab. It also explores the life-threatening conditions that these fishermen have to go through: choppy seas, gale-force winds that could send you tumbling to the deck or into one of the heavy steel crab pots, or crabs getting loose and skittering around the deck. That’s not even taking the stress of the job into account; Captain Keith Colburnsuffered a cardiac arrest during a recent episode, once again highlighting the danger of being out in the open sea. But there’s one danger that might top all of those — hurricane season. The crab fishing season usually collides with hurricane season, escalating the battle of the elements that fishermen usually have to contend with. Deadliest Catch has dedicated whole episodes to what happens when a crew is caught in hurricane weather, and it shows just how tough this job can really be.
The First ‘Deadliest Catch’ Episode To Tackle a Hurricane Happened in Season 13
Season 13 was the first time Deadliest Catch showed what happens when a hurricane hits during filming. Colburn and other captains have their crews pull up as much of the equipment and strap it down; the winds and waves they usually face magnify in the heart of a challenge, and it’s better to have everything strapped down than to risk a fatal blow. A later Season 13 episode, “450 Mile Storm,” took things even further when Colburn and his crew braved an arctic storm that hit the Bering Sea. They had to do this in a nearly pitch-black night sky; combined with the escalating weather, that’s a recipe for danger. One captain even put it in simple terms: hitting massive waves of water in a hurricane situation would be akin to driving into a concrete wall.
Prior to Season 13, the cast and crew of Deadliest Catch were interviewed about how weather interfered with filming. “We’re trying to get our gear out as fast as humanly possible,” Deadliest Catch alum Jonathan Hillstrand told ABC News in 2012, after an Alaskan storm forced him and his crew to head back to harbor. “It’s up to God now whether we beat it or not.” Producer Ben Staley faced an even bigger crisis when Season 10 wrapped shooting, as an artic storm brought hurricane-force winds that threatened to unmoor fishing boats.
‘Deadliest Catch’ Tackled Arctic Hurricanes in Recent Seasons
If a regular hurricane wasn’t enough danger for Deadliest Catch, recent seasons have shown what happens when fishermen brave even deadlier storms. Season 14’s “Arctic Hurricane” featured a massive hurricane with whipping winds and towering waves. Other captains start packing up their gear and strapping down their boats, but Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski decides to take his ship, the Summer Bay, out into the perilous waters. It’s a tough journey full of wind that sends crab pots flying about and massive waves that nearly tip the boat over. Still, Wichrowski is able to pull in a solid haul of crabs.
The biggest, and deadliest, hurricane ever to be depicted on Deadliest Catch was during the Season 15 episode “Sixty Foot Monster.” The arctic super-storm Elsa brought in massive winds, and whipped up 60-foot waves, which meant trouble for three boats: the Cornelia Marie, the Wizard, and the Southern Wind. While the waters they were fishing in were rich with crab, the danger offset the potential bounty. For the Cornelia Marie, it was but a footnote in the boat’s Deadliest Catch history as it’s weathered controversy and the loss of a captain before Deadliest Catch alum Taylor Jensen purchased the boat – sparking rumors of his return to the series.
Fans of Deadliest Catch have often speculated about the reality of the show’s conditions, but the hurricane conditions are no joke. The storms and waves depicted on screen are very real, and very deadly. While certain parts of the show are heightened for drama, hurricanes tend to be dramatic enough on their own. And after watching the hurricane-themed episodes of Deadly Catch, I can safely say that I have even more respect for the crews who brave this kind of weather.
