Protesters attack Japanese whalers who helped rescue them

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Two activists attacked a Japanese whaling ship with a bottle of acid and a smoke bomb Friday, slightly injuring two crew members hours after the vessel helped rescue the protesters from the icy Ross Sea off Antarctica, officials said.

The activists, from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society protest ship Farley Mowat, disappeared during an earlier confrontation with the Nisshin Maru but were found after about seven hours, with members of the Japanese whaling expedition assisting.

John Gravois of Los Angeles and Karl Neilsen of Perth, Australia, were picked up in good condition from their Zodiac dinghy after its fiberglass hull cracked, Farley Mowat skipper Paul Watson told the Associated Press by telephone.

The pair were wearing survival suits and carrying a GPS navigation system.

The two activists had gotten lost after fog, mist and drizzle blanketed the area, Watson said.

The Nisshin Maru responded to a call for help from the Farley Mowat and joined the search, Watson said.

When he thanked the Nisshin Maru crew members for their help, Watson said, "they were very professional. They just said they'd wait for us" to resume the protest.

"I said, 'I guess we're back on schedule, and we'll be pursuing you again,' " Watson said.

The protesters then resumed their chase of the Japanese vessel and smashed a bottle of foul-smelling butyric acid onto its deck, a Japanese fisheries official said.

Flying shards of glass injured the faces of two crew members, the official said. The injuries were not life-threatening.