The Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group has endured a severe blow to its operation in the Southern Ocean as two of its vessels headed back to the Western Australian port.

Brigitte Bardot, the trimaran hull, was damaged by heavy seas. Another vessel named Steve Irwin escorted Bardot back to the port.

The accident left a single vessel continuing the campaign; however the Steve Irwin's skipper, according the Watson he's undeterred red because of the setback.

Adam Harvey, a member of the group, reported that the first harpoon of this whaling period is so far to be fire, yet the Southern Ocean swells have increased a victim.

The Sea Shepherd's speedy trimaran is retiring damaged.

The founder of the group, Paul Watson, told AM through Steve Irwin's satellite phone that Brigitte Bardot was continuing the whaling campaign. There was a strong weather and about 5 to 6 meters swells when the vessel was hit by a rascal wave. It affected the pontoon and created a tiny crack in the hull.

The boat was built for strong seas; however, these are extremely rough waters, dreadfully aggressive and, everybody knows that these freaking waves come up. This is the first time in eight seasons that damage was encountered due to the weather.

Despite the incident, the group was still determined to push through their planned operation. Until now, everything was organized properly for the Sea Shepherd to pursue their plans. They didn't encounter any issues tracking down the Japanese fleet.

Everyone is trying to get up from the incident experienced. They're moving forward hoping to attain their goals for the season.

"I'm not sure it will make a big dent. Last year the Bob Barker by itself was able to chase the Nisshin Maru for over 3,000 miles and prevent it from killing any whales so I'm sure that the Bob Barker can continue the pursuit and do it effectively and the Steve Irwin will come back to support them as soon as we possibly can," said Paul Watson.