By Rob Taylor
A photo of an adult minke whale and her calf being towed up the rear ramp of a Japanese factory processing ship in Antarctic waters prompted headlines including "They call it science."
"This isn't about science, it isn't about research. They're calling it science, but really it's killing whales," Garrett said.
Despite a moratorium on whaling, Japan is allowed an annual "scientific" hunt, arguing whaling is a cherished tradition and the hunt is necessary to study whales. Its fleet has killed 7,000 Antarctic minkes over the past 20 years.
Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the images were "shocking" and added to legal weight against Japan's annual hunt as the Humane Society International urges Canberra to launch a case in the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea.
In one photo a banner hangs from the back of the factory ship saying it is conducting "legal research under the ICRW (International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling)."
Another photo shows a whale tethered to harpoon lines at the bow of a whaling ship boarded by anti-whalers last month. The government had initially refused to release images to avoid angering Japan, the country's second biggest trade partner.
Anti-whaling activists left the Southern Ocean last week to refuel in Australia and the hardline Sea Shepherd protest group will return in a week to harass the six-ship Japanese fleet.
The Sea Shepherd group said they would try and accelerate their departure for Antarctica after the release of the pictures to launch more protest action.
Greenpeace Australia chief executive Steve Shallhorn said the images showed Japan did not care if the whalers killed mothers or infants.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
