Japanese whalers and environmentalists clashed on the high seas Monday, with the activists accusing the hunters of injuring two of them and of deploying a new "military grade" acoustic weapon.
Authorities in Tokyo said the whaling fleet was trying to ward off the activists who hurled bottles of either paint or rotten butter to disrupt the operations.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said one of its activists was cut and bruised after being knocked over by a high pressure blast of water and the other was hit in the face by a metal ball thrown by the whalers.
Both men had been on small inflatable boats launched from the groups' flagship the "Steve Irwin" to "harass the (Japanese whaling) fleet and to hurry them along", Sea Shepherd said in a statement.
The militant environmental group, which has been accused by Japan of "eco-terrorism" for its attempts to disrupt the annual whale hunt, said the whalers had used a new "acoustic weapon" against protesters.
"The factory ship the Nisshin Maru and the two harpoon vessels in the fleet are equipped with long range acoustical devices," the statement said.
"This is a military grade weapon system that sends out mid to high frequency sound waves designed to disorient and possibly incapacitate personnel. It is basically an anti-personnel weapons system."
The "Steve Irwin" retreated when within range of the acoustic weapon but generally had "a very successful day", said captain Paul Watson.
"All we need to do is to keep them running and to keep them from whaling and that is exactly what we are doing," he said.
In Tokyo, the Fisheries Agency said the activists had hurled projectiles and tried to attach themselves with a rope to one of the vessels. It said the whalers responded with water sprays and "beeping warning tones".
Japan has asked the embassies in Australia and New Zealand as well as the Netherlands -- the nationality of the group's ship -- to prevent a similar incident, said Fisheries Agency official Shigeki Takaya.
"Their ship is still following the whaling fleet," Takaya told AFP.
Glenn Inwood, a local spokesman for Japan's government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, said the whalers would not reveal their tactics "to protect themselves from the criminal actions committed by the Dutch vessel".
"We can say, however, that all legal means available will be used to ensure these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or the safety of the vessels," Inwood told Australia's national AAP news agency.
An international moratorium on commercial whaling was imposed in 1986 but Japan kills hundreds each year using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants.
Japan makes no secret of the fact that the meat ends up on dinner tables and accuses Western nations of not respecting its culture.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
