A gray whale

SEATTLE (Reuters) - In a sign of increasing tension before a planned whale hunt, Makah Indians and anti-whaling activists confronted each other in boats on a moonlit sea this week, sparking angry charges by both sides.

The Coast Guard is investigating reports of the Tuesday night incident and examining videotape provided by the Makahs, Cmdr. Ed Kaetzel said.

The incident began about 11 p.m. PDT Tuesday when anti-whaling activists in the pleasure boat Meander discovered a small Makah patrol boat without running lights near a resident gray whale just outside Neah Bay at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula.

Activists in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, who have vowed to disrupt any whaling attempt by the Makahs, dispatched at least two small boats to the site, according to witnesses from both sides.

What happened next is in dispute.

Eric Johnson, who was in the Makah boat, said a motorized black Zodiak raft with no running lights and three people on board began circling the tribal boat.

"They were basically harassing us," said Johnson, who made the videotape handed to the Coast Guard. "We just basically took off because they were making all these high-speed runs at us."

On its way through a narrow passageway returning to Neah Bay, the Makah boat, which carried two tribal members and three members of a German film crew, encountered a small aluminum boat with two people aboard and took "an avoidance maneuver," Johnson told Reuters.

Members of the Sea Shepherd Society tell a different story.

Lisa Distefano, who was on the aluminum boat dispatched by the flagship Sea Shepherd vessel, said her boat was charged by the Makah vessel and nearly capsized.

"All of a sudden, this bright spotlight came straight in our eyes, and they came straight at us," she said. "It was completely unprovoked and quite frightening."

Paul Watson, founder of the conservation society, said the Makahs also charged the 95-foot patrol boat Sirenian, which he captains. He too said he was blinded by a spotlight.

The incident was emblematic of rising tensions in Neah Bay, where the reservation village has become a temporary home for dozens of reporters and anti-whaling activists waiting for the planned hunt.

The Makah, asserting their U.S. treaty rights to resume whaling for the first time in 70 years, have been free since Oct. 1 to hunt and kill a gray whale in what they say is an effort to reconnect with their cultural heritage.

Anti-whaling activists say they fear that the hunt, which may not get under way for weeks, will open the floodgates to a resumption of commercial whaling on a large scale, particularly in Japan.

Law-enforcement officials said they were keeping a close watch on the situation in Neah Bay.

"Whenever you have an issue that's this emotional and two opposing sides that hold their views very strongly, there's always the potential for conflict to take place," the Coast Guard's Kaetzel said.

"We just want to make sure that any conflict that does take place is defused quickly and all sides use good sense when they're on the water," he said.

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