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Anti-Whaling Activists Attacked by Japanese Grappling Hooks

Anti-Whaling Activists Attacked by Japanese Grappling Hooks

CANBERRA, Australia (The Blaze/AP) — Three members of an anti-whaling activist group report minor injuries after the crew from a Japanese harpoon boat they were tailing threw grappling hooks their way in the Antarctic Ocean.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says the Japanese whaling crew hit Russell Bergh and Guillaume Collet with grappling hooks and struck Brian Race with a bamboo pole on Wednesday when the team approached in two inflatable power boats in a bid to prevent the Yushin Maru No. 2 whaler from tailing the Sea Shepherd's flagship, the Steve Irwin.

Here's footage of the conflict (Note: those on the Sea Shepherd appear to be throwing objects at the ship as well):

The statement says two activists sustained bruises from the hooks and Race was cut on the face by the bamboo pole.

Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the whale hunt's sponsors, says the Japanese were retrieving a rope the activists had cast in a failed bid to snag the whaler's propeller. Inwood says if activists were injured, it's because they came too close.

This is by no means the first clash the activists have had with Japanese whalers. Last year, The Blaze reported that members from Sea Shepherd launched flares and smoke bombs at a Japanese ship, which was the fourth attack on a Japanese vessel that year.

(Related: Check out this Blaze article where a former Sea Shepherd captain accuses the current captain of the ship Paul Watson, well known from Animal Planet's Whale Wars, of being "dishonest" and "morally bankrupt.")

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