Anti-whaling activists clash over boat sinking

The skipper of a Sea Shepherd protest boat damaged in a collision with a Japanese whaling ship said today that the head of the conservation group ordered him to let the vessel sink because it would help win public support.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson denied the claim, saying the decision to scuttle the futuristic, high-tech protest boat Ady Gil early this year was made by the skipper, New Zealander Peter Bethune.