Japan slaughters pregnant whales, Australia warns of legal action

(Sydneymorningherald) - Japanese whalers have shipped home 333 dead whales - including about 200 pregnant cows - prompting Australia to declare anew it is considering legal action over the slaughter.

The whalers, who claim their annual whale hunt is for "scientific research", admitted some of the harpooned minke whales had been expecting twins.

Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research said the prevalence of pregnant whales indicated the health of the population.

Japan defied a ruling by the international court to stop whaling, resuming its hunt over the summer months in the face of international condemnation.

The court had ruled Japan's whale hunt illegal in a case brought by Australia, but Tokyo announced new guidelines in November to justify killing more than 4000 whales in the next 12 years, and has since withdrawn from the court's jurisdiction.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia would continue to push for Japan to comply with its international obligations and the principles set out in the International Court of Justice's judgment.

Asked about the prospect of Australia taking further legal action, Ms Bishop said the government was "considering all avenues to achieve compliance with the court's decision".

Japan's insistence on the right to kill whales coincides with the country's drive for closer ties to Australia.

Tokyo is bidding for the multibillion-dollar contract to build Australia's fleet of 12 submarines to enhance what Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called a "special relationship".

Anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd had attempted to disrupt Japan's 115-day whale hunt over the summer, but said in February the group's vessel Steve Irwin had been unable to locate the four-ship fleet.

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