Whaling protest ship heads home as fuel runs out

AFP, March, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — A militant conservation group involved in a series of dramatic high-seas clashes with Japanese whalers in recent months said Tuesday its ship was heading home as fuel was running low.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said its mission in the Southern Ocean was a success, and that its ship the Steve Irwin had saved up to 500 whales from being harpooned by the Japanese fleet.

"We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean. We have just enough fuel to make it back to port," Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said in a statement on the group's website.

"We've done everything we can do down here for this season and it has been an enormous success. I believe we have saved the lives of over 500 whales."

The Steve Irwin has made two forays to the Southern Ocean this season to harass ...