( CNN ) -- Environmental activists have declared an early success at the start of their annual high seas showdown with Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters . The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Australia said its ships had split up the Japanese fleet in the Southern Ocean and chased it out of the main Antarctic zone . `` The whale poaching fleet is scattered and currently not hunting whales , '' Sea Shepherd said in a statement Monday . But Japanese authorities say the hunt is still on . Japan 's fleet carries out an annual whale hunt despite a worldwide moratorium , taking advantage of a loophole in the law that permits the killing of the mammals for scientific research . Whale meat is commonly available for consumption in Japan . Each year , environmental groups like Sea Shepherd pursue the Japanese hunters in an attempt to disrupt the whaling . The resulting confrontations have led to collisions of ships and the detention of activists . Sea Shepherd said Monday that the Japanese fleet 's harpoon ships are `` separated by hundreds of miles . '' The factory ship , the Nisshin Maru , is `` on the run , '' the environmental group claimed . It said its three ships had ushered the Japanese fleet out of the Antarctic Treaty Zone , the internationally designated area below 60 degrees south latitude . `` Within a day and a half , we have the entire whaling fleet in disarray , '' said Siddarth Chakravarty , the captain of one of the Sea Shepherd ships . Japan 's Fisheries Agency , which oversees the annual hunt , said Tuesday that the whaling operation has not been halted . It said the fleet remains in the Southern Ocean , which is generally considered to cover a similar area to the Antarctic Treaty Zone . The agency declined to comment specifically on Sea Shepherd 's claims or on the fleet 's exact whereabouts . On Monday , Sea Shepherd published photos and videos that it said showed three harpooned Minke whales lying on the deck of the Nisshin Maru and another being butchered . The Australian government has challenged the Japanese whaling program in the International Court of Justice . But the current hunt will continue , and Sea Shepherd activists say they 'll continue to fight it . `` We have won this battle , '' said Adam Meyerson , another of the group 's ship captains . `` But the war for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary will wage on over the coming months . '' CNN 's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report .
An anti - whaling group says it split up Japan 's fleet and chased it out of the Antarctic zone . ` ` Within a day and a half , we have the entire Japanese fleet in disarray , '' an official says . He says the Japanese ships are still in the Southern Ocean and the hunt continues . Environmental groups clash each year with Japan 's whaling vessels .