More than 100 letters were written by Bermudians yesterday in a campaign to free two kidnapped anti-whaling crew members.

Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane were aboard the Steve Irwin in the Southern Ocean when they witnessed the Japanese whaler Yushin Maru No. 2 whaling at 12.15 a.m. on Tuesday.

When the two men — who are part of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society — boarded the Japanese boat to deliver a letter informing the captain that Japan was in violation of international conservation law they were assaulted.

Members of the society said that the men were tied to the rails and then moved to the radar mast of the ship, until a few hours later when they were taken inside the ship.

The Japanese whaler has not responded to radio calls in English or Japanese and is heading toward South Africa.

Crew from the Farley Mowat, which is currently in Bermuda and is the Steve Irwin's sister ship, organised a letter-writing campaign in the Par-la-Ville park for an hour and then outside XL Insurance yesterday afternoon.

Laura Dakin, the chief chef of Farley Mowat said they were stunned by the overwhelming response they got from Bermudians.

She said: "We were busy consistently. We got a lot more than we expected today and we just sent the letters that we got to Japan.

"Hopefully, there are enough letters to show them that it is an international issue and even people in Bermuda are concerned."

The two men kidnapped are still in Japanese custody and Laura said that unless they are released, they plan to stage a second letter writing initiative.