Two Activists' Vessels Attack Japanese Whaler

Confrontations between Japanese whaling ships and the environmental activists determined to stop them continue in Arctic waters of the Ross Sea. Two days after members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society attacked the Japanese whaler, the Nisshin Maru, with smoke bombs and acid, that same group has now rammed another ship with two smaller vessels in a coordinated maneuver that many are now calling a clear case of terrorism.

The icy waters of the Ross Sea, which is a deep bay off the cost of Antarctica and a bountiful whaling location, is the scene of many such skirmishes. On Monday, two vessels from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society -- the Robert Hunter and the society's flagship, Farley Mowat -- rammed the Japanese ship, Kaiko Maru, in an attempt to prevent it from spotting whales. The Kaiko Maru suffered a damaged propeller and was forced to send out a distress signal. The two activists' ships also saw some minor damage but remained sea worthy.

The anti-whaling protestors aboard the Robert Hunter and Farley Mowat declared that they will next target a Japanese factory ship.

Meanwhile, Australia -- a nation that strongly opposes Japan's continued whaling expeditions in the nearby Ross Sea -- has pleaded for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to stop these violent actions lest "someone be killed." Malcolm Turnbull, environment minister of Australia, warned that the activists ought to put an end to their pestering of the Japanese fleet.

"They are terrorists and their activities are piracy," Hideki Moronuki, spokesman for the Japanese fishing industry, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and captain on board the Farley Mowat, responded that the Japanese whaler is in fact to blame for the encounter. The Kaiko Maru, he claims, purposefully sideswiped his own vessel, gashing the hull in two places. Watson does admit, however, that his group's intent is to block the whaler's activities and that the two ships had confronted the Kaiko Maru in dangerously close quarters.

At issue is the debate over what Japan calls "scientific" whaling. Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986. (Iceland has also resumed whaling despite the ban.) Japan will be hosting an upcoming meeting of the International Whaling Commission this week to revisit the issue and to draft a proposal for renewed, controlled commercial whaling of certain species of whale it says are nowhere near endangered. Roughly half of the organization's 72 member states, however, will be attending and few expect the issue to be resolved.

Representatives from the Japanese fishing industry called whaling a "cherished cultural tradition."

Source: "Whaling activists in ship clash, Japan hosts meeting" by Rob Taylor, Reuters.