Reality television can be rough. There are shows in which you can bounce off a big rubber ball and fall into a trough of dirty water. There are shows in which you can be attacked by an alligator, or by Simon Cowell.

And then there’s the show in which you can be rammed and sunk by an 800-ton Japanese whaling vessel off the coast of Antarctica.

That terrifying mishap, which took place in January, became the watershed moment of the third season of “Whale Wars,” the Animal Planet series that’s a singular blend of reality show, war documentary and the Three Stooges. (The season ends with a two-hour episode on Friday night.)

There are other shows, notably “Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel, that depict authentic physical peril, the kind that can take a life without warning. But they don’t have the operatic sweep of “Whale Wars,” in which miniature naval engagements unfold, and much of the action takes place in the gray areas of international law and acceptable maritime practice.