An anti-whaling group says three of its members suffered minor injuries when they attempted to slow a Japanese harpoon boat in the Antarctic Ocean.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says the Japanese crew threw grappling hooks when activists approached in two inflatable power boats in a bid to prevent the whaler from tailing the group's flagship, the Steve Irwin.
The statement says two activists sustained bruises from the hooks and a third was cut on the face by a bamboo pole thrust from the Japanese deck.
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.
AP