UPDATE – Numerous media outlets are reporting that the flagship of Japan’s whaling fleet has set sail from a port near Hiroshima, marking the start of the annual Antarctic hunt. Greenpeace says it has seen the Nisshin Maru leave, but Japanese officials have refused to confirm this (AFP).

Australia has decided to put its money where its mouth is on whaling research.

The country has long been opposed to Japan’s controversial ‘scientific whaling’, which involves catching whales and eating them once the science has been done. Now the Great Beyond’s favourite rock-star-turned-environment-minister Peter ‘Burning Beds’ Garrett has announced an AU$6.15 million non-lethal whale research programme (coverage from ABC, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age).

“Australia does not believe that we need to kill whales to understand them,” says Garrett (press release). “Modern day research uses genetic and molecular techniques, as well as satellite tags, acoustic methods and aerial surveys, rather than grenade-tipped harpoons.”

The plan is for Australia to lead a ‘Southern Ocean Research Partnership’ to coordinate non-lethal research.

Garrett was interviewed about the plan by Simon Lauder of ABC’s AM programme (transcript):

SIMON LAUDER: Do you have any reservations at all about engaging the Japanese whales on their own territory rather than maintaining the argument that science has nothing to do with whaling?

PETER GARRETT: Well I think it is really important for us to bring this discussion into the fore. Australia doesn’t believe that we need to kill whales to understand them. And by actually leading a Southern Ocean research partnership, we will be developing new model for coordinating regional, non-lethal whale research.

Image: Garrett / Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts