SBS World News Radio: Anti-whaling activists urge federal government to deploy ship to monitor a Japanese whaling vessel in Australian waters.
It comes after the whalers were spotted with a fresh kill - the first such sighting since Japan defied an international court ruling in 2014 that found the whale hunt in the Southern Ocean should cease.
Photos taken by a Sea Shepherd helicopter show a harpooned minke whale on the deck of the abattoir ship Nisshin Maru, in the waters off Antarctica.
Sea Shepherd says the ship was hunting in an Australian sanctuary off the Antarctic coast.
Captain Wyanda Lublink is on the Steve Irwin ship, which is monitoring the Japanese vessel.
She claims the Japanese crew moved quickly to cover up the whale with a tarpaulin cover.
"As soon as the helicopter discovered the slaughterhouse in Nisshin Maru, they started taking footage of the dead whale. As soon as they realised it was obviously the helicopter of the Steve Irwin, they started hiding the dead whale. Also the helicopter went to both the harpoons -- and both of the harpoons vessels had the harpoons uncovered. And as soon as the helicopter started coming close, they started covering up the harpoon. So the only reason (they would hide the whale and harpoon) is they know they are guilty. They know they are doing something illegal, because otherwise there is no reason for them to cover it up."
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg says the government was deeply disappointed that Japan had decided to return to the Southern Ocean.
In a statement he added that Australia remained opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called 'scientific' whaling, saying it was not necessary to kill whales in order to study them.
Mr Frydenberg added that no country had done more to try to end whaling than Australia.
"We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to strongly oppose commercial whaling and so-called 'scientific' whaling, uphold the moratorium on commercial whaling, and to promote whale conservation."
Sea Shepherd Australia managing director Jeff Hansen says the government's position is not strong enough.
"In opposition they were saying, 'there's blood in the water, and a blind eye in Tokyo', and that they'd be sending a vessel to oppose whaling. We did a poll last year that found 80 per cent of Australians want the Australian government to send a vessel to oppose whaling."
Japan started what it calls scientific whaling in 1987, a year after an international whaling moratorium took effect.
Australia has long opposed Japanese whaling and the contentious issue was reportedly raised in talks between Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's in Sydney over the weekend.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ)ruled in 2014, in a case brought by Australia, that Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean should stop.
This prompted Japan to suspend its hunt for one season, before resuming the hunt in 2015 after developing what it calls the New Scientific Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Ocean or NEWREP-A which it argues meets criteria set by the ICJ allowing limited whaling for scientific purposes.
Donald Rothwell a Professor of International Law at the Australian National University's College of Law explains.
"We know that Japan under it's NEWREP-A whaling program is undertaking whaling operations in the waters of the Southern Ocean including those in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Japan commenced that program in the 2015-2016 season. And so in the current 2016-2017 season Japan is continuing on with those activities and the Australian government is well aware of them. And one of the reasons Sea Shepard is in the Southern Ocean is to monitor these whaling activities.
As for the legality of Japan's NEWREP-A program, Professor Rothwell says Japan believes its program is conducted in accordance with current international law.
"Australia's position very clearly opposes all forms of whaling activities, commercial and scientific but Australia does need to acknowledge that the decision by the ICJ in 2014 in Australia's favour in the dispute that was then with Japan. Did not seek to remove totally the right of any country to undertake whaling for scientific research purposes. Really what we have is a dispute between Australia and Japan as to whether Japan's whaling activities are scientific and whether they meet the provisions of the whaling convention and are consistent with the International Court of Justice.
Along with Japan, Norway and Iceland also hunt whales under the scientic research loophole cited in the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
