Whalers cop a spray…

Each successive summer sees an increasingly tense battle between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whaling fleet – both in Antarctica and in the world media. Last year it was charges of kidnapping and attempted murder while this season has already seen the scuttling of the fastest boat to circumnavigate the globe.

The Sea Shepherd contingent is now beginning what it hopes will be the second consecutive week no whale has been able to be killed. In the last 48 hours, the two vessels Steve Irwin and Bob Barker had a 5-hour engagement with four of the whaling fleet’s main vessels at the geographic boundary of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.

According to Sea Shepherd, their vessels whaling vessels to deliver a message in Japanese, warning the whalers to stay out of the sanctuary. This message was met by water cannon fire, which was returned by the Steve Irwin.

Captain Paul Watson’s account points to another dangerous escalation by the whaling fleet, who then allegedly attacked the Steve Irwin with high pressure hoses in an effort to destroy the helicopter on its deck, at which point the Bob Barker moved in to shield the Steve Irwin and force the Japanese whaling vessels back.

More comical, perhaps, is a newly-posted video that Sea Shepherd claims shows three Japanese crewmen injuring themselves when the pepper spray they allegedly use to deter activists blew back into their own faces.

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson has demanded an apology from the Japanese Minister for Fisheries, Hirotaka Akamatsu, for echoing the claim that these three whalers were injured by vicious Sea Shepherd activists.