Japan said on Tuesday said it killed 177 whales off its northeast coast, in an annual hunt that has been repeatedly condemned by animal rights activists and several governments, AFP reported.

Three ships that left port in June returned with 43 minke whales and 134 sei whales, the country’s fisheries agency said.

Although Japan is a signatory to the International Whaling Commission’s moratorium on hunting, it exploits a loophole that allows whales to be killed for scientific research. The studies are “necessary to estimate the precise number of (sustainable) catches as we look to restart commercial whaling”…