SYDNEY – Australia said Monday it is “deeply disappointed” that Japan has continued whaling in the Southern Ocean after anti-whaling activists published a photograph of a dead whale two days after Australian and Japanese leaders discussed the issue.
Australia has long opposed Japanese whaling and the contentious issue was raised in talks between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Sydney on Saturday, sources familiar with the talks said.
“The Australian government is deeply disappointed that Japan has decided to return to the Southern Ocean this summer to undertake so-called scientific whaling,” Australian Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said Monday.
“It is not necessary to kill whales in order to study them,” Frydenberg added, without confirming the exact location of the current hunt.
