-
-
Related
Two protesters have been injured in a clash with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says.
The group also claims whalers are using a dangerous new weapon against protesters - a military-grade noise weapon that can cause deafness and vomiting.
Sea Shepherd chief Paul Watson said activists and protesters clashed about 5am (AEDT) on Monday, leaving two protesters with minor injuries.
He said one protester was bruised when the whalers pitched heavy balls of brass and lead at crew members who were in an inflatable raft launched from the protest ship, the Steve Irwin.
The second suffered bruises and cuts to his eye after being knocked off his feet by a water cannon, Mr Watson said.
He said the whalers had also used concussion grenades but he was most concerned about the large noise weapon he said was fired at his crew from a distance.
"They are pointing this low, long-range acoustic weapon at us, which can cause deafness, permanent or temporary, vomiting, nausea and disorientation," Watson said.
"They even aimed it up at the helicopter. It could have caused the helicopter to crash if they had fired it.
"They have fired it from a distance and some of the crew have felt it, but it was too far (away) to be effective."
Watson described the equipment as a "military-grade weapon".
"It is being used against civilians in the Antarctic treaty zone, and that is highly illegal," he said.
After clashing with the Japanese whalers late last year, Sea Shepherd activists recently returned to the Southern Ocean after refuelling.
The Japanese fleet plans to kill about 1,000 whales this summer, using a loophole in a 1986 global whaling moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the marine mammals.
A spokesman for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research said he could not immediately comment on the activists' claims.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
