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Sea Shepherd activists throw objects toward the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru in the Southern Ocean March 7, 2008 in this handout photos released by the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research. A hardline anti-whaling activist, Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson, said he was shot during a clash with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean on Friday, but survived because he was wearing a kevlar vest.
(Reuters)

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In this photo released by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a member of the Japanese coast guard, left, throws sound-emitting "warning balls" at the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society anti-whaling vessel, while other coast guard members hold video cameras, aboard the Japanese whaling vessel, the Nisshin Maru, in Antarctic Waters, Friday, March 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)

Armed guards will protect whalers: Japan
Japan has signalled that armed coast guard officers will protect its whaling ships from further interference by anti-whaling protesters.

Japan says coast guard officers threw so-called "flash-bangs" to warn off environmental activists from the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin as they harassed the Nisshin Maru whaling ship in the Southern Ocean yesterday.
But Japan's Government disputes Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson's claims that shots were fired.
Mr Watson claims he felt a thud and found a bullet lodged in his bullet-proof vest. He also says another member of his crew received minor injuries after being hit by a flash grenade.

Japan 'cross-breeding cows with whales'

AN official scientific review of Japan's bizarre experiments with test-tube minke babies and attempts at cross-breeding cows with whales has exploded the claim whale slaughter is "research".

Scientists have analysed the 43 research papers produced by Japan after 18 years of killing whales and concluded they are useless, strange and esoteric.

Some of the experiments involved injecting dead minke sperm into cow eggs, others attempt to produce test-tube whale babies and thawing frozen whale sperm to see if it remained fertile.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research also injected cow and pig egg cells with minke cells as part of its whaling program.