Legal experts say the Rudd Government could stop Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters within two weeks by seeking an urgent injunction through international courts.
Australian and New Zealand scientists are also set to challenge Japan's lethal scientific whaling research, launching a six-week survey to track the impacts of climate change on whales and their Antarctic habitat.
Australian National University international law expert Professor Don Rothwell said yesterday that a court injunction could effectively ''shut down'' Japan's whaling operations in the Southern Ocean within weeks. The Government was ''certainly well-aware this legal avenue is open to them'', he said.
In the lead up to the last federal election, Labor promised to take international legal action to stop Japanese whaling.
Professor Rothwell is one of several law experts to brief the Federal Government over the past three years on possible legal challenges.
''They sought advice on this matter before they took office, and were told it was certainly possible. It has always been an option they could pursue,'' he said.
Australian Marine Conservation Society director Darren Kindleysides said Australia should act immediately to seek provisional measures through the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of Sea.
It would take several years for the full case to be heard, and this would allow time to overhaul the International Whaling Commission ''so it can evolve from an old style fisheries management body into a modern global conservation body''.
''The tribunal could issue an injunction in as little as 14 days which would halt this season's whale hunt ... Australia needs to step up to the plate to seek that injunction,'' Mr Kindleysides said.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Government had not ruled out legal action against Japan if diplomacy failed to reach a resolution. Ms Gillard yesterday ordered the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to investigate a collision between Japanese harpoon vessel Shonan Maru No2 and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's high-speed trimaran, Ady Gil.
''I've seen the video footage of this incident. It is concerning, it is disturbing, and it seems to me a very lucky escape for the people involved that no one was more grievously injured,'' she said.
The trimaran's namesake, Hollywood video systems millionaire Ady Gil, has flagged plans to fund repairs and build a new ''sister boat'' to replace the trimaran dubbed ''the Batmobile of the high seas'' by the Sea Shepherd's crew.
''We can't allow a piece of sea-going history like this to go down,'' Mr Gil said in Los Angeles.
Mr Kindleysides said if Australia sought an immediate injunction through the international courts, it was unlikely to provoke Japan to escalate its efforts during the weeks before a court ban was enforced.
''Japan is currently not whaling at full capacity, and has failed in previous years to catch its full quota. They are not going to be able to step up their efforts to any extent, so it's not going to be an issue.''
Australian scientists will begin a six- week survey of Antarctic minke, humpback and blue whale populations within three weeks. Australian Antarctic Division scientist Dr Nick Gales said the study would use satellite tagging to track whale movements.
''We'll be able to look at genetics, acoustics and the movements of breeding populations that arrive from places like Tonga and Fiji. We'll be able to find where they're targeting the krill, and where the humpbacks go when they leave Antarctica and head back up along Australia's eastern coast,'' he said.
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