SYDNEY, Nov. 19, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- Australia is ''deeply disappointed'' at news that Japanese whalers have embarked on their annual hunt to the Southern Ocean under the premise of scientific research, Environment Minister Peter Garrett said Thursday.
''The Australian Government has said repeatedly that we do not have to kill whales to study them,'' Garrett said in a statement.
According to Greenpeace Japan, the whaling fleet set sail at 10 a.m. local time, from the port of Innoshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Each year, Japan kills hundreds of whales in icy Antarctic waters under a loophole in the International Whaling Commission 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows it to conduct lethal scientific research and sell the byproduct -- whale meat.
During the 2008-09 season, which took place in the Southern Hemisphere's summer, Japan set a quota of 50 fin whales, 50 humpbacks and 850 minkes.
Australia and New Zealand are vocal opponents of Japan's whaling activities, with both countries sharing the view that whales do not have to be killed to be studied.
Earlier this year the two nations launched the A$32 million ($29.6 million) Southern Ocean Research Partnership, an international, multidisciplinary initiative to conduct non-lethal whale research.
Garrett said a SORP research vessel will begin its study in early 2010, where it will use measures such as biopsy sampling, satellite tracking and acoustic surveys to better understand the giant cetaceans.
''The first joint Australia and New Zealand research voyage under the SORP is expected to leave New Zealand early in the new year and we would welcome Japan's involvement in this important initiative,'' Garrett said.
''Japan has the opportunity to swap harpoons for science this summer,'' he added.
Garrett said while Australia would continue to pursue diplomatic efforts to bring an end to Japan's ''so-called scientific whaling,'' he said that international legal action remains an option.
Meanwhile, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a U.S.-based anti-whaling organization, is preparing to depart from Fremantle in the state of Western Australia on Dec. 7.
The group's vessel, the Steve Irwin, will travel to the Southern Ocean where it plans to interrupt Japanese whaling activities again this year as part of its ''Operation Waltzing Matilda.''
