Australia released on Thursday some disturbing images that showed a mother whale and her calf dragged aboard a Japanese ship, as part of its international plan to stop the international whaling.

The picture of the mother wale and its calf disturbed very much the Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

He said: "I guess when I saw the photos I just felt a bit of a sick feeling, as well as a sense of sadness. It's very disappointing. It's distressing when you think that it can take up to 15 minutes after a harpoon actually hits a whale for the whale to die. It's even sadder when you consider there's a calf involved."

The picture was among many taken by an Australian customs vessel which tracked the whaling fleet for months in order to gather information against the kill.

According to Customs Minister Bob Debus, the photographs are support to the legal action.

Debus told reporters: "They will help us to back up the Australian government's argument in an international court case, the details of which are still to be worked out, to suggest that whaling should be stopped," AFP reports.

The Institute of Cetacean Research, the organization which oversees the hunt, posted a statement on its website saying: "The Government of Australia photographs and the media reports have created a dangerous emotional propaganda that could cause serious damage to the relationship between our two countries," the Associated Press informs.

Still, it’s not clear when the pictures were taken.

Hideki Moronuki, chief of the Japanese Fishing Agency's whaling section, said that the pictures did not show a calf.

He said: “The fleet is engaged in random sampling, which means they are taking both large and small whales. This is not a parent and calf.”

He also brought criticism at the address of the Australian ships for getting too close to the vessel saying that this kind of actions were also engaged by the Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace, referring to the recent actions taken by the conservation groups to stop the whalers.

In mid-January Japan was forced to stop the hunt after two activists from Sea Shepherd boarded on a Japanese whaling ship trying to stop the hunt, but in the end the standoff ended with the two transported by a an Australian fisheries patrol ship.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said that Japan’s program, of killing whales for scientific purposes, breaks international conventions.

Legal expert Tim Stephens said in a statement issued by IFAW: “The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea could be called upon to issue an injunction to stop the Japanese whalers... in as little as 14 days.”