Dead whale caught in Australian waters on board Japanese whaler

Sea Shepherd said it has found Japanese whaling mother ship Nisshin Maru in Australian waters with a dead whale on board. The activist environment group spotted the whaler on Sunday morning with two harpoon ships in close proximity.

A photo of a dead protected minke whale was shared publicly through social media. Sea Shepherd has tweeted a picture of a slaughtered whale lying on board Nisshin Maru. It was allegedly found in Australian waters in the Southern Ocean.

Sea Shepherd has explained how the whale has met its death, which a representative described as "bloody." "They're hit with an explosive harpoon that goes straight into their body, hooks come out and shrapnel is sent through their body, it's a terrible bloody death… these whales can take up to 30 or 40 minutes to die," Jeff Hansen from Sea Shepherd explained.

According to ABC, the group said it had shared its vision to the Federal Government, urging it to act fast. "Once again there's blood in the water, in Australian waters, and there's a blind eye in Canberra," Hansen said.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has released a statement to condemn the resumption of whaling. In the statement, Frydenberg said the government is seriously disappointed that Japan has opted to target the Southern Ocean in doing the so-called scientific whaling.

Frydenberg has clarified that Australia is against scientific whaling. He insists that the country will stand firm to this.

"We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to strongly oppose commercial whaling and so-called 'scientific' whaling, uphold the moratorium on commercial whaling, and to promote whale conservation," Frydenberg added.

Frydenberg remains tight-lipped about the alleged location of the whaling action. Sea Shepherd maintains that the action was done within the Australian whale sanctuary.

The incident marks the first documented whale kill by Japanese whalers since 2014. The dead whale has been found a day after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had an official state visit to Australia.