fracas

ここのfracasは「けんか騒ぎ、騒動」という意味ですが、元々はイタリア語のfracassoからフランス語を経由して英語に入った言葉。したがって最後のsを読む場合とそうではない場合の２種の発音が存在する言葉です。もっとも実際にはそんなレベルではないのですが...（GP）

Sea Shepherd claims win after fracas with Japan whalers
NATIONAL MAR. 06, 2012 - 03:14PM JST ( 54 )WELLINGTON, New Zealand —
Anti-whaling activists claimed Tuesday that they have effectively ended this year’s Japanese hunt following a late-night altercation near Antarctica, but the whalers said their season will continue.

The activists said they finally found the main factory ship after playing cat-and-mouse with the whalers for the past two weeks. The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker confronted the whaling ship Nisshin Maru at midnight Monday about 97 kilometers from the Antarctic coastline.

The activists said they used laser beams and flares to disrupt the ship. The whalers said they used small vessels and ropes to prevent the Bob Barker from getting close.

Sea Shepherd President Paul Watson says the Nisshin Maru will be prevented from further whaling with the Bob Barker disrupting it.

“They won’t get more than 30% of their quota,” Watson said.

But the whalers—the Institute for Cetacean Research—say their season, which typically runs through the end of March, will continue as planned. Institute spokesman Glenn Inwood said the activists aren’t achieving anything.

“Sea Shepherd has shut nothing down,” he said.

Japan’s whaling fleet has a quota of about 1,000 whales a year. The International Whaling Commission allows Japan to hunt the whales as long as they are caught for research and not for commercial purposes. Whale meat not used for study is sold as food in Japan, which critics say is the real reason for the hunt.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/sea-shepherd-claims-win-after-fracas-with-japan-whalers