Sea Shepherd Claims to Have Caught Japan Whaling in Australian Waters Again

Back in March 2014, Australia successfully led a case against Japan's "scientific whaling program" in the International Court of Justice. The court declared whaling within the Australian Antarctic Territory illegal, and the killing of whales for scientific purposes unnecessary. Japanese whalers haven't been spotted within Australian waters since—until Sunday. Patrolling the Southern Ocean, a Sea Shepherd helicopter spotted a group of harpoon ships with what appears to be at least one whale carcass onboard.

The conservation group says it'd been surveying the area for five weeks before it located the factory whaling vessel with a dead minke whale on its deck. There were two harpoon ships on patrol nearby.

The ship, Nisshin Maru, was sighted at a position well within the Australian Whale Sanctuary, which protects whales under both local and international law. Sea Shepherd allege that when their helicopter approached, the Nisshin Maru crew "scrambled to hide the slaughtered whale with a tarp, while the fleet's harpoon ships Yushin Maru and Yushin Maru #2 quickly covered their harpoons."

All images via Sea Shepherd

Japanese authorities haven't commented on the legitimacy of Sea Shepherd's claims. However, the timing is awkward for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who just met Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the weekend. Both leaders committed to strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Greens and the Labor Party had urged Turnbull to bring up the elephant (or whale) in the room during the talks. While the Australian Government has taken a firm stance against Japanese whaling in the past, it's unclear whether it was discussed during this trip. In the past, the Australian Government has sent ships to patrol Japanese whaling around Antarctica; however, the Turnbull Government has refused to do so this year.

Sea Shepherd sees Prime Minister Abe's recent visit as a missed opportunity for the Australian Government, which has committed to protecting endangered whale species, to take a strong stance against Japanese whaling.

"The lack of action by the Turnbull Government while whales are being killed in Australian waters just a day after Japan's Prime Minister was on a state visit in Australia shows that the government has no spine when it comes to protecting the wishes of Australians to defend the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary," Jeff Hansen, Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia, said.

"The fact that the Japanese crew went to cover up their harpoons and the dead minke whale on deck just shows that they know what they're doing is wrong," Captain Wyanda Lublink of the MY Steve Irwin, added. "They know they are in contempt of the ruling of the International Court of Justice and the Australian Federal Court. How can the Australian Government ignore these actions when the majority of Australians condemn what they are doing?"

In 2015, the Australian Federal Court fined Japanese whalers $1 million for hunting within the Australian Whaling Sanctuary—but this fine has gone unpaid.

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