Japanese whalers accused the Australian government yesterday of ignoring international commitments and going easy on two activists who were returned after boarding a Japanese harpoon ship.
In response, the Australian government said it returned the two Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists to their protest boat, Steve Irwin, at the request of the Japanese government.
An Australian fisheries icebreaker picked up Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane and returned them to the Sea Shepherd vessel on Friday.
The Japan Whaling Association said Australian customs had given the men "first-class delivery" back to their ship.
"Government of Australia should have detained the two illegal intruders and held them on board the Oceanic Viking for investigation of their criminal activities, but it is obvious they would rather assist Sea Shepherd with its violent illegal actions against Japan's perfectly legal research programme," said the association's president, Keiichi Nakajima. He said in a statement Australia had backed a resolution at the International Whaling Commission meeting last year designed to protect member countries conducting research from Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd actions.
After the activists boarded the Yushin Maru No. 2 in the Southern Ocean on Tuesday, the Japanese and Australian governments agreed the men should be returned to their vessel.
"The Oceanic Viking transferred the two men from the Japanese vessel to the Steve Irwin at the request of the Japanese government," a spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday.
The Australian Federal Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Tuesday's boarding of the Japanese vessel.
Japan plans to hunt nearly 1,000 minke and fin whales for research over the Antarctic summer, but has abandoned the cull of 50 humpback whales after international condemnation and a formal diplomatic protest by 31 nations.
Despite a moratorium on whaling, Japan is allowed an annual "scientific" hunt, arguing whaling is a cherished cultural tradition and the hunt is necessary to study whales. Its fleet has killed 7,000 Antarctic minkes over the past 20 years.
Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace plan to continue protesting in the Southern Ocean until their ships run out of fuel.
Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson said Sea Shepherd activists threw stink bombs, which smell like rancid butter, at the Yushin Maru No.2 about an hour after Potts and Lane returned on Friday, according to Australian Associated Press.
"While it is on the deck it is pretty hard to do any work, like kill a whale," Mr Watson told AAP.