Loading Japan’s whaling fleet was reported to have left port on November 11 bound for the Southern Ocean for this year's annual hunt. It normally takes about three weeks for the fleet to reach their whaling areas, which would suggest the Japanese ships have arrived. They were intending to kill 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean this season. The fleet normally stays in the Southern Ocean until February and sometimes early March. Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement that, if the reports of the withdrawal were confirmed, it would mark a welcome end to whaling in the Southern Ocean. However, Nicola Beynon, from HSI in Australia, believes that Tokyo's decision to leave the rules-based order of the IWC would place Japans' North Pacific whaling program completely outside the bounds of international law. She also fears that Japan may recruit other pro-whaling nations to leave the IWC, "leading to a new chapter of widespread and unauthorised killing of whales for profit".

"This is the path of a pirate whaling nation, with a troubling disregard for international rule. We're going to continue to press the international community to bring an end to the unjustified persecution of whales for commercial profit wherever it occurs," she said. HSI urged Japan to "recall their harpoons and not kill whales in Antarctica this summer". 'Japan threat to harpoon IWC' Australian Marine Conservation Society chief executive Darren Kindleysides said in a statement: "After years attempting to force the international community into ending the global whaling ban, Japan will reportedly pull out of the IWC, leaving the prospect that they would hunt whales outside of international control or constraints. "With the Japanese whaling fleet currently killing whales in our Southern Ocean, the Australian government must demand they bring their fleet home immediately.

"Japan has failed to bully the IWC into permitting a return to the cruel and outdated industrial whaling of the past. Japan has failed to persuade the international courts to allow them to kill whales under the guise of scientific research. So now Japan is reportedly threatening to turn their back on international efforts to control whaling and conserve whales. A minke whale is unloaded at the Japanese port of Kushiro. Credit:AP "Leaving the IWC would set a very dangerous precedent for other international treaties and conventions. Not satisfied with harpooning whales, it now looks like Japan is threatening to harpoon the future of the IWC. "The IWC has become the driving force for global whale conservation efforts in the 21st century. If Japan is serious about the future of the world’s whales, they would not leave the IWC. "Whales face a greater number of threats today that at any stage in their past. Climate change, entanglement in fishing nets, plastic pollution, underwater noise and ship strikes threaten our ocean giants. Our whales need countries to work together, not go it alone."

Loading Call to pressure Canberra Greens Healthy Oceans spokesman, Peter Whish-Wilson, called on Canberra to put urgent diplomatic pressure on Japan and to send a customs vessel to the Southern Ocean, as promised before the 2013 election, given the government’s strong opposition to all forms of commercial and scientific whaling. "This will be an extraordinary rogue move by Japan that slaps the rest of the international community, who actually uphold a strong commitment to rules-based international order, in the face," Senator Whish-Wilson said. "This goes far beyond Japan’s farce of hiding behind scientific research to slaughter hundreds of minke whales in the Antarctic. They will be taking this to a whole new, and disgusting, level if they allow the reintroduction of commercial whaling.

"Right now, Japanese whalers are not too far from Australia, slaughtering hundreds of whales in an Antarctic marine sanctuary, despite international condemnation and in breach of Australian law. "Whether it’s in the Antarctic, in Australia, or even in Japan, commercial whaling should not be tolerated. "I call on the federal government to take a united stand with the majority of Australians who oppose this barbaric slaughter, and make it clear to Japan that we do not support their withdrawal from the IWC or their decision to resume commercial whaling." Greenpeace Australia Pacific condemned the news and urged Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to step in. "This snub to multilateralism is unacceptable and deeply concerning, but let us not forget that the Japanese fleet has been conducting commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research for many years," Greenpeace senior campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said.

"Prime Minister Scott Morrison should contact Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe directly and ask him to return to the international negotiating table." Environmentalist Bob Brown said Tokyo’s withdrawal from the IWC was a bloody-minded snub to Australian culture which abhors the illegal, cruel and needless killing of whales. "The Australian leader who does the strong, right thing and sends the navy south to protect our whales against Japan’s illegal operations - and they are in Antarctic waters right now - will get a hugely positive response from Australian voters," he said. 'Scientific whaling' The IWC was established in 1948 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. Japan joined the organisation in 1951.

In 1982, the IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling to take effect from 1986. Japan continued to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean for what it called "scientific research" purposes, but this was seen as a cover for commercial purposes. Japan maintains that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is a cherished part of its food culture. It has long threatened to leave the IWC, most recently after the IWC meeting in Brazil in September. It then sought to undermine the international ban on commercial whaling, but after its proposals were rejected by a majority vote, it indicated it might quit. To leave the IWC next year, Japan needs to notify the commission by January 1, Kyodo reported. If Japan notifies the IWC that it is withdrawing, it wouldn’t take effect until mid-2019.