Four Japanese whaling vessels owned by the government's Fisheries Agency left port on Saturday and headed for the northwestern Pacific to conduct whaling for research purposes.
The four ships, part of a six-vessel fleet, left from Innoshima in Hiroshima Prefecture, Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Shiogama in Miyagi Prefecture.
The lead vessel left July 11 and the remaining ship is scheduled to depart on Monday.