Australia's prime minister threatened legal action against Japan on Friday if it does not stop its research whaling program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's comments came as the Australian Broadcasting Corp. quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada as saying in an interview that Japan has no plans to halt its killing of whales in the Antarctic.

"We don't accept Japan's premise for those terms of so-called scientific whaling," Rudd told Australia's Fairfax Radio Network. "If we cannot resolve this matter diplomatically, we will take international legal action. I've said that before — I'm serious about it."

Australian's want to see an end to this barbaric madness and they want their government to lead the way. Lets make sure Rudd keeps his promise!

Photo Courtesy: AFP

I went down to Bondi beach this morning to join hundreds of others to welcome The Surfers for Cetaceans Kayakers to Sydney.

The crew of Hilton Dawe, Dave Rastovich, Chris Del Moro, Howie Cooke and Will Connor,

After kayaking for 36 days from Byron Bay to Sydney to raise awareness of the plight of the whales Dave Rastovich sent a messgae to Mr. Rudd and Mr. Garrett.

"You said you would take Japan to the international courts and none of this has happened"

It is so important for this message to be repeated over and over again - the Australian Government must act.

The Japanese whaling fleet is getting ready to depart (will leave sometime in November) for another season of illegal whaling in the Antarctic, so todays event was a great reminder of the need to mobilise and put pressure on the Australian government to take action.

This gathering was so inspiring and we chatted afterwards about next steps. I chatted with Waverley councilor Mora Main (Bondi beach is in Waverley council) about what local councils could do to stop whaling and she and I are throwing ideas around.

Its time to act, we cant let another whaling season go by unchallenged !!!

Welcome to the Whales Alive Blog

Whales Alive Attended The 18th Biennial Conference On The Biology Of Marine Mammals, Organized By The Society For Marine Mammalogy

Program Director, Olive Andrews and Scientific advisor Dr. Liz Hawkins are attending this conference, which brings together some 1500 researchers and students from around the world. It provides an opportunity to present recent findings, and to discuss approaches to improve conservation efforts for these large mammals that are also of significant interest to the public.

The science presentations will touch on several themes including behaviour, physiology, genetics, distribution and abundance, as well as, communication and evolution. Several presentations will also look at contaminants, health concerns and the impacts of different human interactions. Scientists will also debate conservation measures and regulations that contribute to the protection of these ocean giants.

for more information on the conference visit www.marinemammalscience.org, under Conference.