New legal move to prevent Japan from whale hunting in Antarctic

Australian campaigners to bring court case in a bid to prevent whaling season from going ahead

Environmental campaigners in Australia have mounted a fresh attempt to prevent Japan from killing hundreds of whales in the Antarctic this winter, as officials in Tokyo indicated they would ignore an international ban on the country's "scientific" expeditions imposed last year.

The Australian branch of Humane Society International claims that Kyodo Senpaku, the Japanese firm that conducts the controversial hunts, is in contempt of court after ignoring a 2008 federal court injunction not to slaughter the animals in a whale sanctuary declared by the Australian government.