The Sea Shepherd report on the matter.
SYDNEY (AFP) —
The captain of a protest ship harassing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean said he was shot in a clash Friday and his crew members pelted with flash grenades, injuring one.
The captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship, Paul Watson, said he was shot in his bullet-proof vest, although Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Japan had informed him only warning devices were fired.
“What hit me was a bullet, it wasn’t a flash grenade, we pulled it out of the vest,” Watson told ABC radio.
He said the crew of the Steve Irwin was throwing stink bombs at the whaling ship the Nisshin Maru when coast guards posted on the Japanese vessel responded with flash grenades.
He said he felt a thud during the confrontation and later found a bullet lodged in his kevlar vest, which he said hit with enough force to bend a badge he was wearing under the protective device and bruise his chest.
“If I wasn’t wearing the vest, it would have been pretty serious,” he said.
Watson did not detail the injuries of the crew member he said was hurt by a flash grenade.
Smith said Japan initially advised Australian officials that shots had been fired but later clarified details of the incident.
“Japanese officials have now advised the Australian embassy in Tokyo that during the incident in the Southern Ocean this afternoon, three warning balls — also known as flashbangs — had been fired,” Smith said in a statement.
“Japanese officials have advised that these devices are designed to make a loud noise but not to injure, and that no gunshots had been fired.”
The latest high-seas clash comes after Sea Shepherd activists on Monday hurled stink bombs on the Japanese whaling ship, slightly injuring three crew and coast guard members onboard, according to Japan.
The Sea Shepherd said it threw rotten butter that does not hurt anyone. Japanese officials described the substance as butyric acid, which is stinging to the eyes.
So.. what looks like a mortar being fired from the Steve Irwin was more than likely a flashbang grenade thrown from the Japanese ship and you see the smoke of it’s detonation onboard the Steve Irwin.
Dr. David Page was videotaped prying the bullet from Captain Watson’s Kevlar vest. “You have been hit by a bullet,” he said. The Kevlar vest and anti-poaching badge effectively saved Captain Watson’s life. Additional injuries were sustained by crewmembers Ashley Dunn and Ralph Lowe. Dunn, 35, from Launceston, Australia suffered a hip injury when he tried to get out of the way of the exploding grenades. Lowe, 33, from Melbourne, Australia received bruises to his back when one of the flash grenades exploded behind him.
It’s inevitable that with armed personnel that things will escalate into a shooting match at some time. That’s the reason why all the Steve Irwin crew nearly always wear bullet-proof vests when on deck at confrontations.
In the aftermath of a confrontation between the crew of the whaling ship Nisshin Maru and the crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin, the Japanese public relations flacks are working overtime to get the spin right.
Here is the audio interview from ABC Australia.
TeamYankee2 on 07 Mar 2008 at 6:44 am #
[..YouTube..] Lucky that vest held up… that would have been fatal.
BibcottUnitas on 07 Mar 2008 at 8:30 am #
[..YouTube..] Sea shepherd does not fear the Japanese whalers and coastguard, they will prevail, and the IWC will now have to take action against the Japanese
Dozzer on 07 Mar 2008 at 1:49 pm #
That was a close call! I guess the Japanese are after the bounty on Paul’s head…
ForSPARTAAAAAAA on 07 Mar 2008 at 9:27 pm #
[..YouTube..] “First, they admitted that warning shots were fired, then they corrected themselves and said that only flash grenades were fired at the crew of the Steve Irwin. Then they changed the story again and described the flash grenades as “warning balls.” By tomorrow morning, they may have it spun it again and may be describing them as “marshmallows.”"
yourcozy on 08 Mar 2008 at 11:33 am #
[..YouTube..] Eco-terrorism or ecoterrorism is the concept of terrorism conducted for the sake of ecological or environmental causes. The term is controversial and may have been coined by Ron Arnold, an executive at the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise and author of Ecoterror.
yourcozy on 08 Mar 2008 at 11:35 am #
[..YouTube..] Eco-terrorism is defined by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Domestic Terrorism Section as “the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature.”
yourcozy on 08 Mar 2008 at 11:36 am #
[..YouTube..] It has been stated that the damage caused by environmentalist sabotage from 1980 to 1999 amounted to $42.8 million. Since 2003 the FBI has credited “eco-terrorists” with $200 million dollars in property damage.
yourcozy on 08 Mar 2008 at 11:37 am #
[..YouTube..] An alternative definition of the term “eco-terrorism” has also come into use, as first articulated by Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in a commentary criticizing Japanese whalers: “an act that terrorizes other species and threatens the ecological systems of the planet”.
robseashepherd on 08 Mar 2008 at 4:55 pm #
[..YouTube..] THE JAPANESE VIOLENCE, LIES AND FALSE PROPAGANDA HAS NOW BEEN DISPLAYED TO THE WORLDS MEDIA.
Australian Navy should sieze the Nisshin Maru crew on attempted murder and for carrying weapons in Australian territorial water!
Go Paul Watson!, hunt those harpoons!
YouNeedEducation on 08 Mar 2008 at 5:42 pm #
[..YouTube..] This is another White Australia policy & 2005 Cronulla riots.
chinese5angel on 09 Mar 2008 at 5:37 am #
[..YouTube..] THE IWC yesterday condemned the “dangerous actions” of campaigners trying to stop whalers in the Antarctic Ocean. The Commission, which has just concluded a three-day meeting at Heathrow, released a statement criticising US-based anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for “jeopardising safety at sea”. The IWC yesterday said it “called upon the society to refrain from dangerous actions that jeopardise safety at sea, and on vessels and crews concerned to exercise restraint”.
robseashepherd on 09 Mar 2008 at 11:48 am #
[..YouTube..] To chinese5angel:
An IWC condemnation means absolutely nothing, of course. The IWC also condemned the Japanese whalers for killing endangered species in a whale sanctuary in violation of a global ban on commercial whaling, and the IWC takes no action to stop them. It is difficult to respect an organization that spends great sums of money and energy on drafting laws to protect whales that it doesnt have the power or will to enforce.
robseashepherd on 09 Mar 2008 at 11:48 am #
[..YouTube..] Sea Shepherd does not answer to the IWC. The IWC cant ban us from attending its meetings and then demand that we take notice of its criticisms. Our clients are the whales. We will always act in the best interest of the whales, and we believe that it is in their best interest to not be brutally slaughtered.
robseashepherd on 09 Mar 2008 at 11:49 am #
[..YouTube..] Sea Shepherd has not injured any crew member of the Japanese whaling fleet, nor have we damaged any of their ships or their equipment. What we have done is to intervene and harass the Japanese whaling operations to the point where they will not be able to kill half of their quota. In other words, we have accomplished what the IWC has consistently failed to do–we have saved the lives of hundreds of whales.
robseashepherd on 09 Mar 2008 at 11:49 am #
[..YouTube..] If it is a choice between actually saving the lives of the whales and being condemned by the IWC, then Sea Shepherd is proud to accept the condemnation.
The day that the IWC can produce one whale that opposes what Sea Shepherd is doing will be the day that we may consider changing our tactics. Until then, our duty is to serve the best interests of the whales, and that is to prevent their killers from slaughtering them.
ecoTerroristDie on 09 Mar 2008 at 1:12 pm #
[..YouTube..] THE IWC yesterday condemned the “dangerous actions” of campaigners trying to stop whalers in the Antarctic Ocean. The Commission, which has just concluded a three-day meeting at Heathrow, released a statement criticising US-based anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for “jeopardising safety at sea”. The IWC yesterday said it “called upon the society to refrain from dangerous actions that jeopardise safety at sea, and on vessels and crews concerned to exercise restraint”.
robseashepherd on 10 Mar 2008 at 5:08 pm #
[..YouTube..] The crew of the Nisshin Maru and their armed japanese coastguard threw explosive flash grenages directly at SSCS crew & attempted to murder Captain Paul Watson by firing what appears to be an illegal hollow point dumb-dumb bullet which would have killed Capt Paul Watson. So who exactly is risking human life here!
Sea Shepherd preserve all life and injure no-one. Japanese invade Australian territory and violate Antarctic whale sanctuary in order to maim and kill whales and now unarmed civilians!
savewhalesnow4eve on 10 Mar 2008 at 5:51 pm #
[..YouTube..] It is obvious, that the Japanese Government,
which lost much of its reputation in financing brutal whale killers, gets very nervous.
It may cost a lot, to finance this nice video propaganda shows.
But, to be honest, no one in Japan wants to eat rotten and stinky whale meat. Even school children have to be feeded by force with whale meat. What a shame for a - once - great culture and nation…
savewhalesnow4eve on 10 Mar 2008 at 5:58 pm #
[..YouTube..] to:
ecoterrorist
ecoterroristdie
chinese5angel
We know YOU!
A few stinky Japanese, working for the Japanese Government and Fishing Industry….
Always working for the bloody killers….
To feed people like you, the Government pays not enough right? Tough job, very hard to send a few silly emails on the propaganda front. No friends…
Why don’t you have a reasonable job?
Reflect on you.
A dog with a low salary can bark a bit…but is it really enough to feed your children?
tastysalad on 12 Mar 2008 at 1:26 am #
[..YouTube..] that was a fucking hollow round.a real one would have torn through the vest. (if only they did use real ones.)
TeamYankee2 on 12 Mar 2008 at 3:42 pm #
[..YouTube..] It looks like 9mm.. they can be stopped with a wet blanket!
tastysalad on 24 Apr 2008 at 2:32 am #
[..YouTube..] and how many 9mm weapons can fire that far and maintain accuracy?!