This will remain news while a court case is run. I learnt a few things from this article, primarily that Japanese research is being run for the purpose of providing evidence to resume commercial whaling. Silly me, I thought it was for some other purpose!
There was a whale sighted near Sydney harbour today, one of the last of this year's whale watching season.
Killing pregnant whales is 'good news'
Japanese whalers have admitted almost all of the mature female minke whales they killed in Antarctic waters last season were pregnant.
But that's good news, they insist, supporting their argument that the population is strong enough to allow a return to commercial whaling.
Japan's whaling research body, the Institute of Cetacean Research, today said 91.6 per cent - or 262 of the 286 mature female minkes taken during the last hunt - were pregnant.
Japan carries out an annual whale hunt in Antarctica as part of its research program, aimed at providing data to resume commercial whaling.
Whales hunted under the program ultimately end up on dinner tables, where whale meat is a traditional dish, leading to claims of whaling by stealth.
Whale watch news items here, for those who prefer to not eat this protected mammal, hunted almost to extinction.