http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/18/japan.whaling/index.htmlTokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Anti-whaling activists in the Antarctic Ocean threw butyric acid and fired paint guns at a Japanese whaling ship, which then repelled the protesters with water cannons.
The confrontation on Wednesday is the latest in an ongoing feud between Japanese whaling fleets and conservation agencies -- especially the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, a branch of the fisheries ministry that deals with whaling, accuses Sea Shepherd -- who it said was behind Wednesday's attack -- of jeopardizing the safety of fleets that are conducting research legally.
Sea Shepherd uses its boats to interfere with whaling and fishing boats, and its efforts have included ramming a Portuguese whaler in 1979.
Two years ago, Sea Shepherd activists boarded a Japanese ship and handcuffed themselves to the vessel with plastic ties.
And on Monday, an activist jumped aboard a Japanese security ship to make a citizen's arrest of its skipper over the sinking of their boat.
The group often uses butyric acid, found in rancid butter and vomit and has an unpleasant smell.
In the early 1980s, the International Whaling Commission determined that there should be a moratorium on commercial whale hunting.
Whaling is allowed under international law when done for scientific reasons, which Japan cites as the legal basis for its hunts.
The country's annual hunt kills up to 1,000 whales a year; the fisheries agency insists it wants "sustainable whaling."
Many in the international community believe that such hunts amount to needless slaughter.
Critics say that Japan's research is actually a pretext for retrieving whale meat to be sold in markets and restaurants.
