Harpoon narrowly misses Greenpeacers
B.C. activist dumped into Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

The Associated Press
Published: Monday, January 16, 2006

SYDNEY -- Japanese whalers fired a harpoon over a Greenpeace boat, throwing a B.C. activist into Antarctic waters, the group said yesterday.

It was the latest clash between whalers and environmentalists intent on halting Japan's annual whale hunt.

Last week, a whaling factory ship and a Greenpeace vessel collided at sea. Each side blamed the other.

Greenpeace Australia chief executive Steve Shallhorn said a harpoon came within a metre of a small, inflatable Greenpeace craft.

As it hit a whale and the animal submerged, the harpoon's rope snagged the Greenpeace boat, tossing Texas Constantine, 30, into the water.

"I was driving our boat and we were in a good position and the whaler fired its harpoon," said Constantine, a resident of the Gulf Islands.

"All of a sudden the harpoon line came down on us trapping us between the whale and the catcher," he said. "The line came tight at that point and threw me from the boat into the water. It was a few minutes before our boat was able to come over and pick me up."

Constantine, a second mate, was raised in Toronto and Caledon, Ont. He has lived in the Gulf Islands for the past 13 years.

The Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo accused Greenpeace of taking increasing risks in harassing the whalers.

"The fact that the rope fell on to their inflatable and one of the activists fell into the water is entirely their fault," director general Hiroshi Hatanaka said.

Two Greenpeace ships have been chasing the whaling fleet for weeks, hampering the hunt for 850 minke whales and 10 fin whales that Japan says is for scientific research.
© The Vancouver Province 2006