A anti-whaling activist has claimed he was shot during a clash with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean today.
Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd group told Australian radio that anti-whaling activists threw "stink bombs" on to the Japanese whaling factory ship the Nisshin Maru.
The Japanese retaliated by throwing "flash grenades" onto the deck of the Steve Irwin, and Watson said he was shot but survived because he was wearing a Kevlar vest.
"I felt this impact on my chest. I found a bullet buried in the Kevlar vest that I wear. It bruised my shoulder but it would have hit my heart if I didn't have the vest," he said.
Australia's foreign affairs department condemned the incident and said its embassy in Tokyo had been told the Japanese whaling ship "fired warning shots".