While Japanese follow the whales, activists follow the Japanese

Harassment on the high seas

SYDNEY - The annual battle between Japanese whalers and their opponents has been joined again this year - with charges of ramming and ecoterrorism on the high seas - and Japan said yesterday that it would formally ask Australia to keep antiwhaling activists and their ship, the Steve Irwin, from refueling at Australian ports.

Paul Watson, captain of the Steve Irwin, speaking by satellite phone from the ship yesterday, said he and his crew had been "nonviolently harassing" a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. But in another day or two, he said, they would have to head for refueling in Australia, where he did not expect to be turned away.

"We're not concerned," Watson said. "We've got a lot of Australians on our crew. There's no way they could ban us."

But a Japanese official said Tokyo would "request a port closure" against the Steve Irwin.

"They have obstructed our activities in the past, and their actions are extremely dangerous," the official, Chiharu Tsuruoka, said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Stephen Smith of Australia said yesterday that Australia had not received a formal request from the Japanese to block the activists' ship. Nor has there been a request from the Steve Irwin to dock in Australia.

Japan is one of the few nations that still permits whaling. Its vessels operate in the Antarctic under an international codicil that allows the taking of whales for research purposes. The small Japanese fleet has a goal of about 1,000 whales this season.

Watson said he believed the Japanese boats had taken only a few dozen whales so far, although the fleet will be able to continue its hunt unhindered while the Steve Irwin takes about three weeks to refuel and then reengage the fleet.

In recent years environmental activists have stalked the whaling fleet in an attempt to interfere with operations and limit its catch. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which operates the Steve Irwin under a Dutch flag, is the only group now following the whalers. Greenpeace decided against deploying a boat this year, saying Sea Shepherd's tactics are too confrontational.