Whaling protester says Japanese shot him in high-seas clash

AFP, March, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — The captain of a protest ship harassing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean said he was shot in a high-seas clash Friday and his crew members pelted with flash grenades, injuring one.

Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship, said he was shot in his bullet-proof vest, although Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Japanese officials insisted 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 Sea Shepherd's ship Steve Irwin was throwing stink bombs at the whaling ship Nisshin Maru when 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 ...