More than half of about 500 whales killed by Japan in Antarctic waters during the last southern summer were pregnant, the Humane Society International.
SYDNEY: More than half of about 500 whales killed by Japan in Antarctic waters during the last southern summer were pregnant, the Humane Society International (HSI) charged on Tuesday.
The global arm of the US-based animal welfare group said the figure was based on a review of Japan's own reports on the latest annual hunt, which Tokyo says is carried out for scientific research purposes.
Of the 505 minke whales killed, 262 were pregnant, while one of the three fin whales killed was also pregnant, HSI said. "These are gruesome statistics that the Japanese government dresses up as science", said spokeswoman Nicola Beynon. HSI said the statistics would be used in a court case against the Japanese whalers, which was due to resume in Australia's Federal Court on Tuesday, with a date to be set for a full hearing.
The court will be asked to issue an injunction to stop the hunt if it finds that the Japanese whalers are in breach of Australian law when they hunt whales in Australia's self-proclaimed Whale Sanctuary in Antarctica.
Japan has used a research loophole to circumvent an international moratorium on commercial whaling but makes no secret of the fact that the meat eventually winds up on Japanese dinner plates. "HSI will ask for the final hearing to be held as soon as possible before the hunt starts up again this summer," the group said in a statement.
"It horrifies Australians to know that pregnant humpback whales breeding in the warm waters off Australia this (southern) winter will be targeted by the Japanese hunters in Antarctic waters this Christmas", Beynon said.
HSI said Japan had issued its whaling company with permits to kill 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales in Antarctic waters during the coming southern summer. "Based on their past hunting grounds, we expect 90 percent of the hunt to be conducted within the Australian Whale Sanctuary, and a large proportion of the females to be pregnant," HSI said.
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