Police will grill the hardcore activists who docked in Australia on Saturday amid pressure from Japan for Canberra to take stronger action over recent anti-whaling protests in icy waters near Antarctica.
The Sea Shepherd protest ship Steve Irwin arrived to noisy welcome on Melbourne with two crew who boarded a Japanese harpoon ship in Australia's self-proclaimed Southern Whale Sanctuary last month. A 100-strong crowd cheered and whistled as they docked.
But skipper Paul Watson and his crew were to face questions over the boarding of the Yushin Maru 2, which sparked heated Japanese accusations of "terrorism" and "piracy".