Japanese whalers plan to hunt close to 1,000 whales this season [AFP]

Japan's whaling fleet has left port and set sail for Antarctica in preparation for its annual whale hunt, the environmental group Greenpeace has said.

The fleet, led by the factory ship Nisshin Maru, left the port of Innoshima near the southern city of Hiroshima on Monday afternoon amid tight security, Greenpeace said.

"We cannot disclose any information on its departure out of consideration for the safety of the crew," a spokesman for boat operator Kyodo Senpaku told the AFP new agency.

The whalers plan to catch up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales during their five-month long hunt.

Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986, but Japan is allowed to continue hunting whales through a loophole that permits catches for research purposes.

Protests

Japan says it annual whale hunt is for research purposes [AFP]

During the last Antarctic hunt, activists from the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society tracked down and hurled bottles of chemicals at the fleet in an attempt to disrupt operations, leading Japan to label them "terrorists."

Sea Shepherd has said it plans to do all it can this year to disrupt the hunt.

Greenpeace has also denounced the hunt but says it does not support the sometimes violent tactics employed by Sea Shepherd.

Japanese officials say whaling is part of Japanese culture, although surveys show demand for whale meat is dwindling among Japanese consumers.

Many younger Japanese are also questioning the justification for the hunt.

As the Japanese whalers departed on Monday, Australia announced it was setting up a $2.5m research programme aimed at persuading Japan that it is not necessary to kill the mammals to study them.

The package also includes money to develop commercial whale watching in the Pacific and an independent assessment of Japan's whaling programme.

"Australia does not believe that we need to kill whales to understand them," Peter Garrett, Australia's environment minister, told reporters in Sydney.

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