After an Australian court issued an injunction to stop whaling in the country’s Antarctic whale sanctuary, two Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) members boarded the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 2 to deliver a letter of the news. Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane were tied to a mast for some time and then held on board, but were released back to the Australian government this morning.

Both sides have traded barbs in the media, with the Japanese government denying that the men were restrained and alleging that the group had thrown bottles of acid at the whaling vessel, and the SSCS stating that the men were assaulted and that the Japanese boats are illegally poaching the whales. There’s an active discussion in the forums on the methods used by both sides - do you think the situation was handled appropriately?