Hunting fleet heads for Pacific despite anti-whaling laws

Four Japanese whaling ships set sail from a port in the country's northeast on Friday aiming to hunt up to 51 minke whales under what Japan describes as a "scientific research" whaling program.

The mission proceeded despite an International Court of Justice order that Japan stop its whaling program. The court ruled that Japan's research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean violates the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Japan has scaled down its activities in the Antarctic and the Pacific, and maintains its whaling is for scientific purposes and not for commerce.