[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17112828/]Whaling, protest ships collide in Antarctic seas
Japanese say activists threw flares, ropes to try to tangle propeller
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This article could probably go in several different forums, including ACTIVISM and SCIENCE, but since the whales are animals and their rights are being usurped by this so-called Japanese "scientific" program, I thought I'd put it here.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - An anti-whaling group's boat and a Japanese whaling ship collided in Antarctic waters Monday during violent clashes over a pod of whales, conservationists and Japanese officials said.

The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said a 3-foot gash was torn into the hull of its ship, the Robert Hunter, by the Japanese ship Kaiko Maru during the clashes in iceberg-strewn waters far south of New Zealand.

...Tokyo is pushing for a limited resumption of hunts, arguing that whale stocks have sufficiently recovered since 1986 when a global moratorium on commercial whaling was introduced.

Many other countries and conservation groups say Japan's scientific program is a veil for commercial whaling.

I have great admiration for those who are willing to put their bodies between the whaling ships and their targets.

There is no greater form of bravery!