The confrontation ocurred after a 12 hour chase in which the Steve Irwin closed the gap with the Nisshin Maru. The Steve Irwin has been on the tail of the whaling fleet since February 23, forcing the whalers to flee and curtailing any opportunity to slaughter more whales. Sea Shepherd activists Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane are reported to have hidden a satellite beacon aboard the Yushin Maru when they were detained on board in January, which has enabled the Sea Shepherd to track and locate the whaling fleet after refuelling in Melbourne.

According to Sea Shepherd the "crew deployed over two dozen bottles of rotten butter sending a stench throughout the whale killing ship that will remain for days. The crew also threw packets of a slippery chemical onto the deck of the Nisshin Maru. This will make it very difficult to cut up whales. The substance becomes even more slippery with water so it will be difficult to wash it off the decks." It is thought the slippery substance is methocel — a food additive that makes liquids more viscous and slippery.

The director general of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), Mr Minoru Morimoto has accused Sea Shepherd activists of terrorism in throwing more than 100 glass bottles containing butyric acid and other substances on board the Nisshin Maru, and in the process injuring two crew and two coast guard officers. "Sea Shepherd is not an environmental group. It is a terrorist vigilante group that operates outside of the law" said Mr. Morimoto. The ICR justifies the whale slaughter under the scientific loophole provisions of the International Whaling Commission.

Captain Paul Watson rebutted the claim of injuries in a report in the Age newspaper saying: "They are so full of crap. We filmed and photographed the entire thing. Not a single thing landed anywhere near their crew. Last year it took them 24 hours to come up with claims of injuries. It is their way of trying to get sympathy."

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society believes that the acts of illegal exploitation of whales by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Whale Sanctuary is in violation of the laws and regulations of the IWC, CITES, and the Antarctic Treaty and in violation of and contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling dated 15th January which defined whaling in the Australian claimed Antarctic zone, part of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, as illegal.

Captain Paul Watson radioed the Nisshin Maru to inform them that they had no authority in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Captain Watson ordered the Japanese captain to cease all whaling operations and to comply with the Australian Federal Court ruling that prohibits the Japanese whaling fleet from killing whales in the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters.

Paul Watson on board the Steve Irwin said "I guess we can call this non-violent chemical warfare. We only use organic, non-toxic materials designed to harass and obstruct illegal whaling operations."

After the confrontation the Steve Irwin dropped half a mile off to the starboard side of the Nisshin Maru. "It stinks too bad to remain any closer," said Todd Emko 32, of New York City.

Japan has said that any Sea Shepherd crew members seized by their crews will be returned to Japan for prosecution for interfering with their whaling operations. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has retained a lawyer in Tokyo and is prepared to cover the legal costs of any crew seized and detained on board a Japanese whaling vessel and taken back to Japan.

"It will be interesting to see what the Australian government will or will not do if Japanese whale poachers seize Australian citizens in Australian waters for protecting whales in support of an Australian Federal Court order prohibiting the killing of whales by Japan in these same waters," Said Captain Paul Watson. "Australia will effectively become a vassal state to Japan having already ceded armed control of the territorial waters to the Japanese Coast Guard. What a disgrace that will be to see Australian whale defenders put on trial in Japan, by poachers specifically prohibited from whaling BY Australian law, for upholding the law in Australian territory."

It is clear from photos and videos that the Japanese Coast Guard carry firearms, with the Japanese Government willing to escalate tensions over whaling. "As we drew alongside, one of them had one hand on his video, and the other on his holster, like it was Dodge City," said Captain Watson "I don't think the Australian Government would approve of people bearing arms in a non-militarised place like the Antarctic."

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith condemned the actions of Sea Shepherd in confronting the Nisshin Maru and of the potential for the incident to escalate. "I absolutely condemn actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury - or have the potential to cause injury - to anyone on the high seas," he said in a statement. He also reiterated that the Australian Government remains strongly committed to action to bring an end to Japan’s whaling programme in the Southern Ocean.

Detail from Report on San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center
 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/03/03/18483098.php

Sea Shepherd videos of the confrontation
 http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/03/03/18483092.php

Sources:

* Sea Shepherd - Mar 03, 2008 - Sea Shepherd Ship Steve Irwin Engages Japanese Factory Ship Nisshin Maru In Whale Sanctuary
* ICR - Mar 3, 2008 - Sea Shepherd attacks Japan Research Vessels
* Sea Shepherd - Feb 29, 2008 - Sea Shepherd Aussie Crew Prepared to Be Taken as Prisoners to Japan
* The Age - Mar 3, 2008 - Australia condemns anti-whaling protest
* Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mar 3, 2008 - Incident in the Southern Ocean