Antarctica There are 17 different whale species in the Antarctic and many species of whales migrate south to take advantage of food. This is the reason why most of whaling ships come to Antarctica every year for hunting. Factory ships were not used by Japan until the 1930s. As whale catches diminished in coastal waters, Japan looked to Antarctica. Toyo Hogei K.K. purchased the Norwegian factory ship, Antarctic, renaming it the Tonan Maru in 1934. Refrigerator ships were sent along to freeze and transport the meat back to Japan. By capitalizing on both the meat and oil of whales, the Japanese industry continued to out-compete other whaling nations. Improvements in technology such as the world's first diesel-powered whale catcher, the Seki Maru, also increased the capacity to take whales. In the years building up to World War II, the Germans purchased whale oil from Japan and both nations used it in preparation for war. In 1937 London, the International Conference on Whaling, which Japan did not attend, led to additional limits on pelagic whaling in order to prevent excessive exploitation (and specifically the extinction of the blue whale) creating the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling. Regarding voluntary acceptance of restrictions: Regardless of efforts to establish limits, in part due to Japan ignoring an 89-day season limit and continuing for 125 days, a record 45,010 whales were taken in a single season. The Protocol to the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in 1938, established additional restrictions on whaling. Despite the attendance of Japanese representatives, Japan did not sign the agreement and started hunting for humpback and undersized whales five weeks prior to the defined start of the season. By 1939 Germany and Japan accounted for 30% of the world's whale take. In 2016, according to the country's Institute for Cetacean Research, Japan's whaling fleet has killed 333 minke whales in the part of this year's Antarctic whale hunt. Some 230 were female; about 90% of these were pregnant, according to the report. World War II During the Second World War, Japan's whaling was significantly limited to more familiar hunting grounds, such as the Bonin Islands, to provide meat and oil for domestic and military use. Whaling there was halted in March 1945 when the islands were taken by US forces. By November 1945 the whaling stations received permission to reopen; however, most whaling ships had been