SYDNEY, Australia — A tense standoff in Antarctic waters ended today when two activists who had jumped on board a Japanese whaling boat were returned to their ship, the Steve Irwin, by Australian officials.
The return paved the way for the Japanese fleet to resume killing whales and for Japan’s staunchest opponents to restart their campaign of harassment to stop them.
An Australian customs ship today picked up the two activists — Australian Benjamin Potts, 28, and Briton Giles Lane, 35 — who prompted the faceoff when they leaped from a rubber boat onto the deck of the Japanese ship Yushin Maru 2 on Tuesday.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had said the pair wanted to deliver an anti-whaling letter and then leave, and accused the whalers of taking their members hostage. Japanese whaling officials said the activists were acting like pirates.
