Conservation activist Paul Watson says a US court injunction ordering his Sea Shepherd group to keep away from the Japanese whaling fleet will not deter its Southern Ocean campaign.
A US appeals court this week issued an injunction ordering Sea Shepherd and Mr Watson not to physically attack or endanger the whaling ships, and to remain at least 450 metres from them at all times.
The order was sought by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which undertakes the Japanese government's whaling program through a loophole in International Whaling Commission rules that allows whales to be killed for research.
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The ICR has welcomed the injunction, saying Sea Shepherd has engaged in "violent and unlawful attacks".
Mr Watson, the head of the anti-whaling group who is currently aboard the vessel Steve Irwin, said Sea Shepherd was confused by the decision.
"It's quite confusing. The United States does not own these waters," he told SBS reporter Cassandra Hill.
"It came as an unprecedented surprise. Our lawyers said they haven't heard of anything like that happen before."
He said the Japanese had engaged in aggressive acts against his group without being held to account.
“Also remember that the Japanese destroyed one of our ships and didn't have to answer for it," he told SBS.
Earlier this year, an independent government audit reported that Japan had misspent tsunami relief funds on unrelated projects including scientific whaling research.
Lawyers for Sea Shepherd would look at options to appeal the injunction, and Mr Watson says he remains steadfast in his resolve.
"We are committed to making sure they don't kill a single whale," he told SBS. "We're not down there to hang banners and take pictures. We're going down there to protect the integrity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."
He added: "I wish that the counties that signed into law the establishment of the sanctuary would protect so we don't have to. We're put in the situation because of the reluctance of signatory nations to uphold their own laws."
Australian National University international law Professor Donald Rothwell said the US injunction would be almost impossible to enforce, but could create problems for Sea Shepherd in the future.
"Because Sea Shepherd is a registered company in the United States and has its headquarters in the state of Washington, Sea Shepherd would be subject to consequences under US law if it failed to abide by the injunction," he told AAP on Wednesday.
"Paul Watson does hold a US passport and could be held in contempt of court and arrested in the United States."
Acting Greens Leader Adam Bandt condemned any violent protest but said Sea Shepherd was the only group monitoring whether international whaling laws were being complied with.
"We should be clear the right to peacefully protest is not only paramount but the Sea Shepherd is the only one out there attempting to uphold the law," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"The best way to avoid any conflict is to stop the whaling." Mr Bandt called on the federal government to seek an urgent injunction to stop whaling over the summer.
