Japan's expert backs whaling as science Japan's expert witness has withstood an Australian attack on his independence to tell the UN's top court that Tokyo's whaling program is definitely science-based. Physiologist Lars Walloe gave evidence at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague on Wednesday. Australia wants the 16-judge panel to ban Japan's annual hunt in the Southern Ocean on the basis it's not "for purposes of scientific research." But Professor Walloe, from the University of Oslo, insists Japan's JARPA research program is legitimate under the 1946 whaling convention. "It is definitely a scientific research program," the Norwegian scientist told the court. The programs are giving critical information about the ongoing changes in the Antarctic ecosystem. Canberra last week argued Japan didn't need to kill whales but could instead rely on satellite tagging, tracking and biopsy sampling. "In the strict theoretical sense it's possible to obtain the genetic information by biopsy sampling," Professor Walloe admitted on Wednesday. But it's much more easy, and thus much more efficient, to obtain genetic samples from killing whales than biopsy sampling. Australia's own expert, US mathematician Marc Mangel, last week acknowledged the method for ageing whales was lethal, requiring the examination of ear plugs. And Professor Walloe on Wednesday said it was crucial to know the age of whales to determine growth rates, age at sexual maturity and mortality rates. Canberra also claims the JARPA program "has offered nothing more than the information that Antarctic minke whales eat a great deal of krill." But the University of Oslo academic said Australia's position proved it hadn't read the relevant paper presented to the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee in 2012. "The main point in the paper is the amount of food in the forestomach of Antarctic minke whales has declined over the JARPA years," Prof Walloe said. Australia stated last week that Japan's research was not science but rather "a heap of body parts taken from a large number of dead whales." Responding directly to that criticism, Professor Walloe pointed out that the Australian Antarctic Division had a page on its website titled "Data mining enhances scientific knowledge." Australian solicitor-general Justin Gleeson SC later questioned Professor Walloe's independence. Mr Gleeson noted he'd been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in 2009 for promoting Japan's fisheries policy. But the professor returned fire by stating he'd also worked with scientists from Russia, Denmark and the United States. He then had a dig at Australia's second expert witness, Nick Gales, who is the chief scientist of the Australian Antarctic Division. "I'm an independent witness," Professor Walloe said. Much more so than, for instance, Dr Gales is an independent witness. The three-week ICJ hearing is scheduled to conclude on July 16.