Crew hurl hunks of metal and golf balls at anti-whalers in skirmish in Antarctic Ocean, says Sea Shepherd leader

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Japanese whalers blasted conservationists with a water cannon and hurled hunks of metal and golf balls at them in a clash today in icy Antarctic waters, an anti-whaling group said.

Two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society were lightly injured in the early morning fracas in heavy seas about 2,000 miles south-east of the Australian state of Tasmania, said Paul Watson, the group's leader.

A spokesman for the whalers said he had no information on the claims.

The group which follows the Japanese whaling fleet during its annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean sent a helicopter and two inflatable boats toward one of the ships in the Japanese fleet.

The whalers began blasting conservationists on one raft with a water cannon, knocking one man off his feet and leaving him with cuts and bruises, Watson told The Associated Press by satellite phone.

Another protester was hit in the face with a large chunk of metal lobbed from a harpoon boat. He was wearing a shield on his helmet, but still suffered bruises, Watson said.

The Japanese also aimed a "military grade" noise weapon that can cause deafness and vomiting at the Sea Shepherd crew, Watson said. Some felt its vibrations but were too far away to be otherwise affected, he said.

Glenn Inwood, the New Zealand-based spokesman for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, a Japanese government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt, said he could not immediately confirm or deny the Sea Shepherd's claims.

"All legal means available will be used to protect the Japanese crew and the scientists," he said.

Japan, which has described the Sea Shepherd protesters 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.

Protesters aboard the ship, named after the late Australian conservationist and TV personality 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 before stopping two weeks ago in Tasmania to refuel. The group found the whalers again on Sunday and resumed their pursuit.

In December, the protesters lobbed bottles of rancid butter at the Japanese.

"I will not allow them to kill a whale while we're here, and they know that," Watson said. "I'll literally rip their harpoon off their deck if I have to."