Whale protesters taken hostage

Australian citizen Benjamin Potts and British citizen Giles Lane, activists aboard the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, boarded the Japanese whaling vessel Yashin Maru No 2 this afternoon, a statement from the group said.

The statement, sent from aboard the Steve Irwin, said Mr Potts and Mr Giles had been taken hostage and have been tied to a radar mast.

The captain of the Japanese vessel has refused the demand of the Steve Irwin's captain Paul Watson to release the pair immediately.

The two men boarded the vessel to hand the captain a letter advising that the crew was "illegally killing whales".

The action came after the Federal Court outlawed whaling in Australian Antarctic waters in a ruling the government said it would not try to enforce.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society earlier reported that the crew of the Steve Irwin had located five whaling vessels at 11.15am (AEDT).

"Sea Shepherd is demanding that Australia and Great Britain demand an immediate release of these two crew members," the Society said.

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