Whaling 'scientists' accused of slaughter

Graphic pictures of Japanese hunters harpooning whales and dragging their carcasses aboard a ship near Antarctica were evidence of “indiscriminate” slaughter, Australia said today.

Japan denied one of the photographs showed a mother and its calf being hauled on a whaling ship, and accused the Australian government and media of spreading propaganda that could damage ties between the two nations.

The images were the latest salvo in the new Australian government’s stepped-up campaign against Japan’s annual whale hunt, which resumed recently after being interrupted by environmental activists who chased the fleet through icy waters at the far south of the world.

They were taken by officials aboard the Oceanic Viking, a Customs ship deployed to the Antarctic Ocean to spy on the whalers and collect evidence for a legal challenge Australia wants to bring against Japan’s claim that it kills whales only for scientific purposes.

“It is explicitly clear from these images that this is the indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way,” Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

“To claim that this is in any way scientific is to continue the charade that has surrounded this issue from day one,” he said.

The images include footage of a harpoon being fired into a swimming whale, and it writhing as it is hauled toward the ship. The whale eventually stops moving and lies still in bloodstained waters, the harpoon clearly visible piercing its body. One photo shows two whales – one far smaller than the other – being dragged by ropes or cables up a ramp at the back of a ship, as blood dribbles down.

Hideki Moronuki, chief of the Japanese Fishing Agency’s whaling section, denied the photograph depicted a baby whale, and accused Australian officials of coming dangerously close to the whaling ships to take the images.

“The fleet is engaged in random sampling, which means they are taking both large and small whales. This is not a parent and calf,” Moronuki said.

The Institute of Cetacean Research, the Japanese government-affiliated organisation that oversees the hunt, posted a statement on its web site headlined: “Australian Customs Photos Mislead the Public.”

“The Government of Australia photographs and the media reports have created a dangerous emotional propaganda that could cause serious damage to the relationship between our two countries,” institute director Minoru Morimoto said in the statement.

Japan has defended its annual killing of more than 1,000 whales, conducted under a clause in International Whaling Commission rules that allows whales to be hunted for scientific purposes.

Critics dismiss the Japanese program as a disguise for commercial whaling, which has been banned by the commission since 1986.

Japan had planned to kill up to 50 endangered humpback whales this season, but backed away after strong international condemnation. It has a quota to kill 935 minkes and 50 fin whales.

The whalers recently resumed their hunt after earlier being interrupted by ships from the militant activist group Sea Shepherd.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government was elected in November last year, and it has sought to promote its environmental credentials on a number of fronts, such as quickly signing the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

Late last year the government announced it would send a Customs ship and a plane to collect evidence that could be used in a case against Japanese whaling program at the International Court of Justice, the International Whaling Commission or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the images released Thursday could be proof the Japanese program was a sham.

“We have got evidence of whaling being carried out in circumstances that we believe it should not be done,” he said.