Two anti-whaling protesters were dramatically rescued from the freezing waters of the Antarctic today after angry clashes at sea between environmentalists and the crew of a Japanese whaling ship.
One of the men, part of a group of activists trying to stop Japan's annual whale hunt, described their ordeal as "pretty hairy" and said they had lassoed an iceberg for protection from strong winds and to stop themselves drifting away.
John Gravois said he and his crewmate, Karl Neilsen, huddled in their damaged inflatable craft for eight hours in freezing fog, snow and sleet before being hauled to safety aboard the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's flagship, Farley Mowat.
"When they found us it was a feeling of the most extreme relief that you can imagine," said Mr Gravois.
The anti-whaling activist, from Los Angeles, said that he and his Australian crewmate had been trying to foul the propeller of the Japanese ship but had gone too close and collided with its hull.
Their small craft began letting in water and they fell behind other small boats in the fleet that were also trying to sabotage the whaling ship's activities. When they tried to use their radio to call for help, they discovered it did not work.
Whalers and protesters called a temporary truce and conducted a joint search for the men, who said they were saved because they were wearing survival suits.
Paul Watson, the head of the Sea Shepherd group and captain of the Farley Mowat, acknowledged the help of the Japanese in the search and rescue mission. But he also said his vessel and another Sea Shepherd craft, the Robert Hunter, would resume their pursuit of the Nisshin Maru and its three smaller boats.
He predicted that there would be more confrontations in the days to come. Earlier on Friday, the protestors had splashed six litres of butyric acid onto the ship's flensing deck, where whales are stripped of their blubber.
Butyric acid is a corrosive chemical and contact can cause severe irritation and burns of the eyes and skin, leading to permanent damage. Two Japanese crewmen sustained injuries from the attack, Kyodo news agency reported, drawing protests from a senior Japanese fisheries official who called the protester's activities "piratical, terrorist acts".
A global moratorium on commercial whaling has existed since 1986, but Japan kills hundreds of whales each year under a scientific whaling programme.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, founded in Canada in 1977, is a controversial marine mammal protection group, with a particular focus on illegal whaling and sealing. Its actions have brought it into conflict with other environmental organizations, who see its methods as being too extreme, a claim rejected by the group.
Captain Watson is described as an "eco terrorist" by the Japanese government-funded Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), which is paying for this year's hunt for 850 minke and 10 endangered fin whales.