Sea Shepherd heads back to Antarctica
Environmental group Sea Shepherd has begun its journey back to Antarctic waters to track down Japanese whalers, who have just under a month of whaling left.

The group's ship The Steve Irwin left Melbourne today en-route for the southern oceans following a return to Australia to refuel and restock on supplies.

Skipper Paul Watson said that he was anxious to re-locate the Japanese whaling fleet after tracking them for weeks during the initial hunt.

"The objective in returning to the Southern Ocean is to stop whaling activities for another three to four weeks and to keep the Japanese whalers on the run, wasting fuel and further exposing their ... activities to the rest of the world," Mr Watson said.

Sea Shepherd estimated that during their protests against the Japanese, up to 100 whales were spared from slaughter, however Japan has now resumed the cull following their departure.

The group was also involved in an on-board incident, where two of its members were held below the deck of the Japanese whaler the Yushin Maru II after climbing on board the ship.

They were later released after three days, with the activists saying they only wanted to deliver a letter detailing a recent legal decision about whaling.

The Sea Shepherd said before departing that they hope to secure a second ship for next year's season so that they could constantly monitor and protest the Japanese whaling operations.

Japan has pledged to take home nearly 1000 whales from their hunt in the southern oceans, with Australia currently considering the preparation of an International legal case against the cull.