Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said on Thursday that whales can be studied alive in their natural habitat and harpoons were not necessary. 'We do not need to kill whales to study them,' he told Australian Associated Press. Garrett revealed Australian scientists will sail for Antarctica on Friday as part of the federal government's whale research program. They are collaborating with colleagues from New Zealand on a six- week field trip to demonstrate you do not need to kill whales to study them. The researchers will investigate the feeding behaviour of whales and their interaction with pack ice, along with the population structure of whale populations. The research program has the motto of 'respect for the oceans and the creatures that make their home in the vast waters of our planet'. Commercial whaling is banned but Japan hunts whales in the name of scientific research, measuring the carcasses and assessing the stomach contents and dead foetuses. 