Researchers from Australian and New Zealand will sail for Antarctica early next month, in an expedition funded by their respective governments.The scientists are hoping their journey to the Southern Ocean will help to disprove Japanese claims that whales have to be killed to properly study them.
The researchers will try to unlock some more of the secrets of the giant marine mammals by taking samples and attaching satellite-tracking tags to monitor the whales. After the research is concluded, the team is hoping that Japan's arguments for whale hunting will be seen as misguided and will lead to a complete ban on the practice.
Japan, whose whaling fleet is currently on its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean, has said there are genuine scientific reasons for the killing of whales in Antarctic waters.The country has said its fleet aims to catch about 1,000 whales.
