Sydney, Australia, Jan. 16 — The Australian government on Monday condemned Japan for resuming its whaling activities in Antarctic waters following the release of photographs of a dead protected whale aboard a Japanese ship inside Australia’s Antarctic whale sanctuary.

Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said the Australian government was “deeply disappointed” after the Sea Shepherd organization on Sunday released photographs and videos of a minke whale on the deck of the Japanese ship Nisshin Maru.

The group said the photographs were taken as the vessel sailed in the Australian-Antarctic whale sanctuary.

“Australia is opposed to all forms of commercial and so-called ‘scientific’ whaling,” Frydenberg said in a statement.

Sea Shepherd released the images as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday to discuss regional security, military and trade cooperation, as well as the thorny issue of whaling, among other matters.

Japan in November resumed its “scientific” whaling season in Antarctic waters, the country’s second incursion into the cetacean hunting area, after a two-year hiatus following a ruling by the International Court of Justice.

In response to an Australian lawsuit, the ICJ ruled in 2014 that Japanese whaling was not in line with the scientific aims set by the International Whaling Commission, after which Japan temporarily halted its program in the Antarctic.

Until the ICJ ban, 850 minke whales, 50 humpback whales and 50 fin whales were caught for scientific purposes under Japan’s JARPA II program. EFE