Japan has once again pissed off a massive portion of the planet following reports a fishing vessel murdered a bunch of pregnant whales in Antarctica.
The Humane Society International says 122 females have been slaughtered in this year alone during what the Japanese crew called a 'scientific' project 'NEWREP-A'. In addition to that, a further 59 females were killed, along with 152 males. The bastards.
HSI Senior Program Manager Alexia Wellbelove said in a statement: "The killing of 122 pregnant whales is a shocking statistic and sad indictment on the cruelty of Japan's whale hunt.
"It is further demonstration, if needed, of the truly gruesome and unnecessary nature of whaling operations, especially when non-lethal surveys have been shown to be sufficient for scientific needs."
It's baffling that the Japanese crews are still carrying out these hunts, despite the International Court of Justice (casually the highest court on the planet) ruling in 2014 that these 'scientific hunts' are illegal and have to stop.
That's on top of a ban that was installed in 1986 that prevented anyone from undertaking commercial whale hunting.
Although Japan is signatory to this rule, campaigners accuse the nation of exploiting a loophole which allows them to kill the animals as research to determine if the population is large enough to return to full-time hunting.
The latest killings were described by Japan as 'biological sampling' which hopes to find out 'the structure and dynamics of the Antarctic marine ecosystem'. Sure, Japan. Sure.
According to the Daily Mail, when crews find a whale to kill, they use a harpoon that has a small grenade attached to the tip.
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This ensures that the massive mammal dies as the explosive either does enough brain damage to cause death or simply knocks them out long enough to be dragged onto the fishing, sorry, scientific vessel.
HSI's Ms Wellbelove added: "Whales are already facing substantial threats including bycatch in fisheries and marine pollution. Significant conservation efforts are underway worldwide to address these issues, so the least Japan could do is put away the harpoons.
"The continued killing of any whales is abhorrent to modern society, but these new figures make it even more shocking. We look forward to Australia and other pro-conservation countries sending the strongest possible message to Japan that it should stop its lethal whaling programs."
It doesn't look like the Asian nation is showing any signs of slowing down its whaling program either.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: World News, Whales, Animals, Japan