KEY POINTS:
Japanese whalers joined anti-whaling activists in the cold oceans around Antarctica in the hunt for two missing activists in an inflatable.
The pair, an American and an Australian, disappeared in heavy fog while operating from the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd's vessel Farley Mowat.
The ship and her Zodiacs were confronting the Japanese whaling fleet.
The Sea Shepherd Society sought help from both the whaling fleet and New Zealand authorities to find the missing dinghy. The pair have since been found.
A spokesman for the Sea Shepherd said the pair were well but happy to be found.
"They had radio problems and were making there way back to the ship when the fog set in. They huddled down and waited to be found," he said.
The inflatable was carrying a GPS locator and VHS radio.
The fog prevented Sea Shepherd from using helicopters to undertake an aerial search.
The Sea Shepherd ships issued a distress signal and contacted the Australian and New Zealand search and rescue, as well as the American Antarctic base at McMurdo on the southern end of Ross Island.
Before the incident, Sea Shepherd said its two ships, the 55m Farley Mowat and Robert Hunter had found the whaling fleet after a six week search.
The conservation society has accused the Japanese fleet of planning to illegally slaughter over 900 whales in Antarctica this year.
A spokesman for Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research, Glen Inwood, said one of the Japanese vessels had received a mayday call from the boat carrying the protesters and had responded.
Inwood said the Japanese ships had turned back towards the protesters' boats in a bid to help find the missing crew, but so far had failed to locate them.
Watson said the two crew were filming the clash aboard an inflatable when radio contact was lost at about 7.30am AEDT (9.30am NZT).
There are seven Australians among the crew of the Sea Shepherd vessels, the Robert Hunter and Farley Mowat, which found the Japanese fleet early today following a search which began in December.
"We played cat and mouse with them throughout the morning," Vasic said.
Activists in inflatables had thrown foul-smelling substances at the whalers and tried to seal outlets on the factory ship used to drain away water and blood.
"We have done a couple of different things, using smoke and butyric acid, which is a non-toxic smelly substance."
Vasic said Sea Shepherd told the four Japanese vessels by radio that they were in breach of international conservation law by whaling in an Antarctic sanctuary, but received no reply.
Sea Shepherd has gained notoriety by using tactics including ramming to try to disrupt whaling fleets.
"That would be a drastic tactic used as a last resort. We have no plans to do that yet," Vasic said.
He said the whalers had yelled at them through loudhailers and sprayed them with water cannon.
"They had their water cannon spraying full blast, but that is fairly easily avoided," he said.
Vasic said the co-ordinates of the whaling fleet had been forwarded to the Greenpeace environment group, which also was protest against the whalers' activities.
Inwood said it was disappointing that Sea Shepherd had found the whaling vessels.
"We have concerns for the safety of our crew and scientists," he said.
Japan plans to harpoon up to 935 minke whales and 10 fin whales under its scientific research program this year
The Farley Mowat was stripped of its Belizean registration hours after it left Hobart, Tasmania, on December 29. It has declared itself a pirate vessel and is flying a modified Jolly Roger flag.
Sea Shepherd's website says its mission is "to conserve and protect the world's marine wilderness eco-systems and marine wildlife species".
- NZHERALD STAFF, AAP
