Japan has continued its “scientific” whale-hunting program, setting sail in Pacific waters this week.

Japanese media reports say the nation’s Fisheries Agency will allow whalers to kill up to 51 minke whales in waters off Kushiro city.

Japan continues to exploit what it sees as a loophole in the 1986 global whaling moratorium, which allows lethal research on the mammals, but it makes no secret of the fact that the meat ends up in restaurants, fish markets and even public schools. 

The smaller Pacific coastal hunt is designed to tide japan over until its large-scale Antarctic Ocean hunt next year.

The destruction of the largest animals on Earth continues despite a ruling from the UN's top court that the scientific basis of the scheme was invalid.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this year said that the annual expedition was a commercial activity masquerading as research.

The latest Pacific expedition is conducted under the auspices of surveying the contents of whales’ stomachs.

Hunts carried out in June and July this year have seen the killing of 90 Sei whales 25 Bryde's whales and 30 minke whales.

Meanwhile, reports say conservation efforts have allowed California blue whale populations to rebound to near historic numbers.