Japan has expressed outrage after anti-whaling activists lobbed acid onto the decks of a whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and slightly injured two crew members, terming their activities "piratical, terrorist acts".
After the clash, two protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an environmental group chasing the Japanese whalers, tied their boat to an iceberg for protection from icy winds as they drifted in fog after the inflatable was damaged.
The Japanese whaling boat, the Nisshin Maru, joined the search for the men, who were rescued safely eight hours later.
The group then resumed its pursuit of Japan's whaling fleet, a senior official at Japan's Fisheries Agency said.
"These are completely piratical, dangerous acts," said the official, Hideki Moronuki.
"They are also very dangerous, and we want them to stop this immediately."
Sea Shepherd said on its website that it had "successfully delivered" six litres of butyric acid to the ship's flensing deck, where whales are cut up, halting the crew's work.
Two Japanese crewmen were injured, one when he was hit in the face by an empty container of acid and the other when acid was squirted into one of his eyes.
Butyric acid, which Sea Shepherd said was non-toxic, is a corrosive chemical and contact can cause severe irritation and burns of the eyes and skin, leading to permanent damage.
Moronuki said one of the Japanese crewmen was having difficulty opening his eye and the full extent of his injuries had yet to be determined. The other had a cut on his face, but neither appeared to be seriously hurt.
A global moratorium on commercial whaling has existed since 1986, but Japan kills hundreds of whales each year under a scientific whaling program. Iceland and Norway are the only countries to ignore the moratorium and conduct commercial hunts.
Japan has called a special meeting of members of the International Whaling Commission this month in an attempt to help lift the whaling moratorium, but 26 anti-whaling nations, including Australia, have vowed to boycott the meeting.
Front page
World home
RSS Feed