If the past few years are anything to go by, things will hot up in the Southern Ocean over the coming weeks and it will have little to do with climate change.

It has become something of a summer ritual that clashes occur in the Southern Ocean between the Japanese whaling fleet and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

A contentious issue ... whaling. Credit:AP

Since 2006, the protest activities of Sea Shepherd have been on the rise, attracting more and more attention from the media, and also the Japanese and Australian governments.

In mid-December, Australia - along with the Netherlands, New Zealand and the US - issued its regular exhortation of concern that protest activities in the Southern Ocean could lead to a loss of life among protesters and whaling crews. These calls are made against the backdrop of the January 2010 collision between the Sea Shepherd trimaran Ady Gil and the whaler Shonan Maru 2, resulting in the Ady Gil losing its bow and eventually being scuttled.