Ships collide in Antarctic whaling clash

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-06 11:19

SYDNEY - A boat carrying a group of radical anti-whaling activists collided with a Japanese whaling vessel in the Antarctic Ocean on Friday. No injuries were immediately reported.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship the Steve Irwin (foreground) collides with the stern of Japanese whaling ship the Yushin Maru 2 in the Southern Ocean in this February 6, 2009 handout picture. An anti-whaling protest ship collided with a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean on Friday as the Japanese tried to haul a dead whale on board, said the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. [Agencies]

Activist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said his boat was trying to prevent a Japanese ship from dragging a whale on board Friday when another Japanese boat shot in front of Watson's boat, and the two collided.

"The situation down here is getting very, very chaotic and very aggressive," Watson told The Associated Press, speaking by satellite phone from the boat.

Shigeki Takaya, a Fisheries Agency spokesman for whaling in Japan, said the Japanese government was investigating whether anyone on board the whaling vessels was injured in the fracas. Watson said no one was injured.

"This is absolutely appalling and unforgivable," Takaya said, confirming the collision occurred but declining to give any additional details. "We will ask concerning countries, including Australia, to immediately stop them from carrying out such horrendous acts."

Japan, which has described the Sea Shepherd activists as terrorists, plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales this season. Under International Whaling Commission rules, the mammals may be killed for research but not for commercial purposes. Opponents say the Japanese research expeditions are simply a cover for commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986.

Watson said the incident Friday began when his crew saw the Japanese kill four whales and tried to maneuver its vessel in such a way as to prevent the Japanese from pulling the carcasses on board their ship. Then another Japanese vessel tried to block the anti-whaling boat, and it slammed into the whaling vessel.

The Sea Shepherd crew has spent the past two days pelting the Japanese with bottles of butyric acid, produced by rancid butter. Watson said the Japanese have responded by blasting his crew with a water cannon, hunks of metal and a "military grade" noise weapon that can cause deafness and vomiting.

Earlier this week, Watson said two of his crew members were slightly injured by the water cannon and a chunk of metal thrown by the Japanese. Several have experienced headaches from the noise device, he said Friday.

Protesters aboard the Steve Irwin set off from Australia in early December for the remote and icy Antarctic Ocean, chasing the whaling fleet for about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) before stopping two weeks ago in Tasmania to refuel. The group found the whalers again on Sunday and resumed their pursuit.