Anti-whaling vessel damaged by wave

A conservationist group’s boat that was chasing a Japanese whaling vessel off Antarctica was seriously damaged by a giant wave today – a major setback in the group’s ongoing and sometimes violent battle with Japan’s whaling fleet, the activists said.

The wave cracked the hull and severely damaged one of the pontoons on the Brigitte Bardot, a scout vessel for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is chasing the whaling fleet in the hopes of interrupting Japan’s annual hunt.