TOKYO - Japan's whaling fleet in the Antarctic will avoid killing humpback whales for now, but will press on with plans to slay 1,000 other whales by early in the New Year, a government official said on Friday.
The move follows Australia's announcement on Wednesday that it would send a fisheries patrol ship to gather evidence for a possible International Court challenge to halt Japan's yearly slaughter.
Plans by Japan to include 50 endangered humpbacks in its annual hunt had sparked an outcry from activists.
Popular among whale watchers for their distinctive silhouette and acrobatic leaps, humpbacks were hunted to near extinction until the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ordered their protection in 1966.
"Japan has decided not to catch humpback whales for one year or two," government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.
"Japan's relations with Australia could improve, but it depends on how it will see our decision," Machimura said.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said through a spokesman that while the move was welcome there was no good reason for Japan to continue any sort of whaling.
Later on Friday Australia, Britain, France and Germany were among 30 nations who lodged a joint diplomatic protest with the Japanese Foreign Ministry over Tokyo's annual whale hunt.
Machimura said Japan had made its decision to spare the humpbacks after holding talks with the head of the IWC.
Machimura said the IWC had not been "functioning normally", saying the international forum had been distorted by ideology.
He said Japan would suspend its humpback whale hunt while the IWC held talks on "normalising" its functions, but would continue with its "scientific research" whaling.
Japan's whaling fleet set sail last month with plans to catch more than 1,000 whales including 50 humpbacks. It is due back early next year.
