A militant conservation group involved in a series of high-seas clashes with Japanese whalers said yesterday that its ship was heading home after a successful harassment campaign that saved 500 whales.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said that its ship the Steve Irwin was ending its pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean because the ship was running low on fuel.
"We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean. We have just enough fuel to make it back to port," Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said in a statement on the group's Web site.
"We've done everything we can do down here for this season and it has been an enormous success. I believe we have saved the lives of over 500 whales," he said.
The Steve Irwin has made two forays to the Southern Ocean this season to harass Japanese whalers, which use a loophole in a 1986 whaling moratorium allowing "lethal research" to kill up to 1,000 of the giant mammals annually.
Watson said Sea Shepherd had prevented the whalers from operating for about five-and-a-half weeks, or almost half of the whaling season, covering 6,000 nautical miles (11,110km) in its second trip south, which began on Feb. 14.
Sea Shepherd has adopted confrontational tactics, including throwing what it describes as stink bombs filled with rancid butter onto the decks of whalers. Japan says the bombs contain acid that stings the eyes.
In January, two Sea Shepherd protesters boarded a whaling factory ship, where they were held for two days before being transferred to an Australian customs vessel, then back to the Steve Irwin.
Watson later claimed the pair had installed a satellite tracking device on the Japanese ship to help Steve Irwin pinpoint its location in the vast Southern Ocean.
The group's tactics were condemned at an International Whaling Commission meeting in London last weekend. Delegates called on activists "to refrain from dangerous actions that jeopardize safety at sea."
The activists said they had also been on the receiving end of violence. Watson said that on Friday he was shot in a clash with a whaling ship and that his crew was pelted with flash grenades.
Watson said Sea Shepherd hoped to acquire a second vessel in time for the next whaling season, so that it could constantly shadow the whalers without breaking off the pursuit to refuel.
In Tokyo, the Fisheries Agency declined to comment on Sea Shepherd's assertion that it saved 500 whales from being harpooned.
"We can't disclose details as we are still in the middle of research. Besides, if we did, it could trigger fresh obstructionist activity," an official at the Fisheries Agency said, declining to be named.
Last year, Japan killed little more than half of its intended catch in the Antarctic Ocean after a fire damaged the mother ship.
Although environmentalists also harassed the whalers last year, both sides said the fire was an accident unrelated to protests.
Japan says its whaling is legal and part of its culture and accuses Western countries, led by Australia, of insensitivity.
Australia continues to oppose whaling and its recently elected center-left government this year sent a customs vessel to track the fleet and gather evidence for a possible court case against whaling.
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