Anti-whaling crew reports collision with Japanese whaler

The clash between the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
and Japanese whalers turned ugly Wednesday after one of the
conservation group’s vessels was struck by a whaling ship and severely
damaged.

The Sea Shepherd’s new tri-maran Ady Gil had its bow
sheared off and was taking on water after it was rammed by the Japanese
vessel Shonan Maru 2, which has been tailing the Sea
Shepherd flagship boat Steve Irwin since it left port en route to
Antarctic waters to try to disrupt Japan’s annual whale hunt.

Sea Shepherd reports on its website that six crew members on the Ady Gil — five from New Zealand and one from the Netherlands — were immediately rescued by the crew of another Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker, which arrived on scene Tuesday.

They added that while none of those aboard Ady Gil
were injured, the damage to the vessel is catastrophic and that it’s
unlikely that it can be salvaged.

The conservation group states that this “unprovoked
attack” has been captured on film—Animal Planet has a film crew onboard
the Steve Irwin, shooting footage for the third season of the popular
“Whale Wars” series.

The clash may be a portent. This was the most severe encounter between the two interests, and they have not yet even reached Japan’s fleet of harpoon and processing vessels.

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