Aus releases grisly pictures

2008-02-07 12:01

Canberra, Australia - Australia's government stepped up its campaign against Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters on Thursday by releasing grisly surveillance pictures of the slain carcasses of a minke whale and a calf being hauled aboard a ship.

The images were taken by an Australian customs ship that has tracked the Japanese fleet in the Antarctic Ocean for the past month gathering evidence for a diplomatic and legal battle against whaling.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the "distressing" pictures would help build global opposition to whaling.

"When I saw the photos, I just felt a bit of a sick feeling as well as a sense of sadness," Garrett told Nine Network television. "It's even sadder when you consider there's a calf involved."

It was not immediately clear when the whale and the calf, less than 12 months old, were photographed being winched by their tails aboard the harpoon ship Yushin Maru 2.

Hideki Moronuki, chief of the Japanese Fishing Agency's whaling section, criticised the Australian ship for coming too close to the whaler to take the photographs.

"That is the sort of dangerous action that Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace have engaged in, and we strongly hope that they stop," he said, referring to conservation groups that have harassed the whalers.

Japan temporarily halted its hunt in mid-January after sea confrontations with both Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd.

Moronuki also accused Australia of producing "mistaken information" by releasing the pictures of the slaughtered whale and the calf.

"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.

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

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

Australian Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus described the pictures as "evidence" that could be used against Japan to halt the annual slaughter.

"They will help us to back up the Australian government's argument in an international court case, the details of which are still to be worked out, to suggest that whaling should be stopped," Debus told reporters.

Australia has yet to decide who to prosecute and in what court, he said.

- AP