Japanese whaling fleet in confrontation with conservationists

SYDNEY, Feb. 2 Kyodo -
Hard-line anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society accused Japanese
whalers Monday of using illegal weapons systems to repel their vessel as it
pursues the fleet in the Southern Ocean.
The U.S. -based organization said the whalers had used a number of measures in
their assault, with some crew members on their flagship vessel the Steve Irwin
sustaining injuries during the attacks.
''The whalers are deploying water cannons, concussion grenades, acoustic
weapons, and throwing solid brass and lead balls at Sea Shepherd crew
members,'' the group's founder Paul Watson said in a statement.
In Tokyo, the Fisheries Agency said Monday that crew on two rubber boats from
the Steve Irwin threw bottles containing dye into the Nisshin Maru fleet in the
Antarctic Sea, an apparent attempt to halt the whaling.
The agency did not address Watson's claim of attacks on his vessel and crew.
Watson said high-frequency sound waves emitted from the long range acoustic
device causes disorientation and nausea.
He added that another crew member was injured when blasted with high pressure
water cannons, while a second activist was struck in the face by a metal ball.
''If we were to do any of the things these thugs are doing, we would be
denounced as eco-terrorists,'' Watson said.
He added the use of military-grade weapons systems in the Antarctic Treaty Zone
is in violation of international law.
''There certainly is a double standard where whale killers can use violence
without fear of condemnation from our governments,'' Watson said.
The Japanese agency said nobody was injured when the bottles were thrown into
the Japanese fleet and there was no damage to the ships in the fleet.
Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean Research,
told Kyodo News he could ''neither confirm nor deny the strategies employed by
the Japanese research vessels to protect themselves from the criminal actions
committed by the Dutch vessel.''
''We can say, however, that all legal means available will be used to ensure
these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or
the safety of the vessels,'' Inwood said.
Watson, however, remains optimistic that by continuing to chase the fleet
around the icy seas of the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd is contributing to
a significant downturn in this year's whale kill.
''What is important, however, is that despite the violence from whalers, no
whales are being killed,'' Watson said.
Japan ceased commercial whaling in 1986, in accordance with an international
moratorium, but has, since 1987, used a loophole in International Whaling
Commission agreements to kill whales in the name of scientific research.
==Kyodo