An anti-whaling group says its members threw stink bombs at a Japanese whaling ship in Australian waters off Antarctica.
The
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said Saturday the crew on its ship,
the Steve Irwin, hurled bottles containing rancid butter at a Japanese
research whaling ship, the Kaiko Maru. The incident took place Friday
north of the Mawson Peninsula, which is in Antarctic territory claimed
by Australia.
A Japanese government-backed whaling body, the
Institute of Cetacean Research, said the conservationists' boat rammed
the whaling vessel. The captain of the conservationists' boat, Paul
Watson, said the two ships collided but that neither sustained serious
damage.
Watson, who is also the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society's founder and president, said the group is seeking to push
Japanese whalers out of Australian waters.
Japan claims that
its annual whale hunt in waters near Antarctica is necessary scientific
research as permitted under a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Opponents
say the research expeditions are a cover for commercial whaling.
Last
month, Australia announced a plan to invest millions of dollars into
whale research, to show Japan that lethal methods are scientifically
unnecessary.
The international headquarters of the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society is in the U.S. state of Washington. It also has
offices in several other countries, including Australia.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
