That may be. But they are following the laws, the treaties.
The crew of the Ady Gil were violating the laws of the sea, especially the one about ramming another ship.
And ramming a ship much larger than yours while you have a camera crew on another ship, which is also crossing their bow, in an attempt to cause them to 'hit' the smaller (but much more maneuverable) craft is just dumb, and deadly.
So who is the criminal, in this case?
This isn't about saving whales. It's about well-funded liberals who got a flashy boat and are making TV shows playing James Bond.
They have some effective equipment for driving whales away from the area, so why do they insist on damaging the whaling vessels, risking the lives of those on board?
Answer: Because, it's all about fame and fortune, and bragging rights.
Proof: They risk polluting the ocean with their own ship's fuel, just to make a point.
They would never have taken damage, had they not insisted on getting within 50 feet of the nose of the whaling ship. The water the whaling ship was spraying at them was a BIG RED SIGN that says, DON'T COME ANY CLOSER.
Crew of Ady Gil were ARMED, and were assaulting the ship.
They were apparantly using bow-guns with pointed arrows. These have been recovered by the Japanese ship and photographed. That to me seems to be some kind of violation of international maritime law, and could even be classified as terrorism.
Link to several pages with this information developing about the ecofreaks in this incident:
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/graph/20100106/15.html
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/graph/20100106/14.html