Sunk ... Pete Bethune with the Ady Gil. The ship was struck by a Japanese boat in January.

An estranged former member of direct action anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd alleges it ordered its own boat to be scuttled to win public sympathy. Peter Bethune was captain of the hi-tech Ady Gil when its bow was shorn off in a collision with a Japanese whaler it was shadowing in January.

It sank two days later, but Mr Bethune now alleges he was ordered to scuttle it by Sea Shepherd head Paul Watson.

Mr Watson denies the claim - the latest twist in a bitter row between the two. bbc.co.uk

The Biggest Sea Shepherd Non Story of the Year

by Captain Paul Watson

Captain Pete Bethune of the Ady Gil made news this week when he “confessed” to sinking his ship the Ady Gil under my orders. He said he was apologizing to the world for such an awful thing to do.

It caught us by surprise primarily because we all knew that Pete attempted to scuttle the Ady Gil. In fact over a million people saw and heard Pete Bethune make the decision to abandon the Ady Gil on the television show “Whale Wars.”

He was not ordered to sink it. In fact after towing the Ady Gil for 36 hours and breaking two tow ropes as the vessel became increasingly heavier as it filled with water, Captain Chuck Swift on the Bob Barker called me on the Steve Irwin. I was two hundred miles away from the two other vessels at the time. Chuck told me the Ady Gil could not be salvaged and asked me what he should do.

On camera, I say, “it’s Pete’s boat, it’s Pete’ call.”

On camera, Pete Bethune says that the boat cannot be salvaged and that his decision was to abandon it.

Abandoning it would have left it as a navigational hazard. It was Pete who went to the vessel to attempt to scuttle it and Maritime Safety Australia was made aware of this. I am not criticizing Pete’s decision. It was the correct decision to make. What I am saying is that neither Captain Chuck Swift nor I ordered Pete to scuttle the vessel. Read the rest.