JAPANESE authorities have criticised the environmental activist group Sea Shepherd for abandoning a vessel at sea, apparently leaking fuel and debris.
The Ady Gil was crippled in a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean on Wednesday.
Sea Shepherd spokespeople have repeatedly claimed the boat had sunk, and today the activist group abandoned the scene.
But Japanese authorities have released photographs which show the Ady Gil wreckage is still afloat in pristine Antarctic waters.
The official Institute of Cetacean Research said an oily substance thought to be fuel was leaking from the wreckage, "raising concerns that Sea Shepherd is willfully polluting the Antarctic environment''.
A Japanese vessel salvaged part of the severed Ady Gil hull and some arrows.
The institute called on Australia and other countries to prevent Sea Shepherd's "vicious'' sabotage of the whaling fleet.
Meanwhile Australian authorities have officially told Japan to stop whaling in the wake of a dramatic high-seas clash.
But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has warned the anti-whaling push could harm relations with Japan, which is Australia's biggest export market.
Australia's acting ambassador in Tokyo yesterday spoke to the Japanese Government and to whaling officials.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia was pushing the anti-whaling case "with all of our force''.
"We continue to make very clear our view about whaling, which is that it has got to cease,'' she said.
The acting ambassador also expressed strong concerns about whaling authorities hiring Australian planes to spy on anti-whaling protest ships.
Ms Gillard said if the spy flights had broken any laws, the government would prosecute the offence to "the full force of the law''.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett backed Ms Gillard's tougher talk, describing whaling as "repugnant'' and saying he was very disappointed with the Japanese response on the issue.
But Mr Abbott did not join in the attack on Japanese whaling.
When asked if pressing the anti-whaling case could damage the relationship with Japan, Mr Abbott replied: "Of course it could.''
Japan imported $52bn of Australian products last financial year, almost half of it coal.
Large amounts of iron ore, beef and aluminium also made their way to Japan.
"I don't fully know who's right and who's wrong down there,'' Mr Abbott told Sky News of the Antarctic clashes.
He said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should have thought "long and hard'' before promising to take legal action against Japan.
The Opposition Leader would not be drawn on whether Australia should send a government vessel to patrol the situation, saying Customs vessels were busy locating asylum seekers.
This is in contrast to calls by the Opposition's environment spokesman Greg Hunt for a boat to be sent to save whales.
Meanwhile, the Australian Greens have sent a bill for $2 million to the Japanese ambassador to replace the Ady Gil.
Japan aims to hunt hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters this summer under international rules which allow for "scientific whaling''.
Protest group the Sea Shepherd, which is operating the Ady Gil and two other vessels in the Antarctic, has resumed its chase of the whaling fleet.
Australia and NZ have launched investigations into the high seas collision.
Federal Labor promised to take international legal action against Japanese whaling before the last election, but as yet has not done so.
The Government had appeared to go cold on the idea after the election.
But the Government is now talking more positively about the option, with Ms Gillard saying it was "on the table''.
As well as resuming its anti-whaling activities with its remaining vessels Sea Shepherd is launching a new PR offensive - fuelled by the added star power of Transformers star Isabel Lucas.
The Australian actress, formerly of global TV hit Home and Away before switching to movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is a passionate supporter of the controversial protest group's activities.
She will appear in a television commercial asking people to donate and support the organisation, Sea Shepherd Australian director Jeff Hansen told NewsCore at noon today (AEDT).
It was set to hit Australian TV networks tonight, Mr Hansen said, adding that the ad had not cost the group "a cent" - because Lucas and its creators had given their time for free.
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