Whaling protesters end chase of Japanese 'scientific' fleet

Anti-whaling protesters stopped shadowing Japan's whaling fleet yesterday after a series of heated clashes in the Southern Ocean, saying they had saved more than 500 whales from being harpooned.

The hardline Sea Shepherd organization, which angered Japan with its harassment of whaling ships, said its protest ship the Steve Irwin was running out of fuel and had no choice but to return to port in Australia.

"We have just enough fuel to make it back to port. We've done everything we can do down here for this season," the group's leader Paul Watson said in a statement.