The outrage is that they're whaling in a conservation area in the Southern Ocean. The other reason is other countries have determined their "scientific" whaling

The outrage is that they're whaling in a conservation area in the Southern Ocean. The other reason is other countries have determined their "scientific" whaling has no actual scientific basis: Japan is not the only nation to hunt whales. Norway has a commercial operation in its own waters, for example. But what infuriates conservationists is that Japan is hunting and killing whales in a conservation zone, the Southern Ocean whaling sanctuary, that surrounds Antarctica. Japan claims that it does so only for scientific purposes. Then, a few years ago, the International Court of Justice – at the instigation of Australia and New Zealand – ruled that the country’s whaling plan had no scientific basis. Japan was forced to halt whale hunting and had to come back with a plan to carry out “scientific whaling” in the region. This now involves catching only 330 minkes, and no humpbacks or fin whales. It was an important victory for conservationists. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/23/sea-shepherd-loses-antarctic-battle-japan-whale-hunters https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/23/sea-shep...