Japan’s whaling fleet will set out on a hunt for minke whales, Tuesday. The hunt will go on for three months.

The Washington Post reports that the hunt will kill only 333 whales, about a third of the usual amount of whales hunted before a year-long halt on whaling. The Japanese government says that the whales are being hunted for research purposes. The U.N.’s International Court does not believe this is the case.

Japanese officials say the whales hunted will be used to study their health and migration patterns. Many believe that Japanese research vessels have been nothing more than a way around whaling bans, since the 1980s. Japan is the only country that continues to practice whaling in international waters.

The International Whaling Commission asked Japan to rethink its plans. 44 scientists from 18 countries signed a statement that questioned if the killings were scientifically valid. Japan opted to go ahead with the plan, to the dismay of many conservationists.

Australia presented the ICJ with Japan’s whaling case, which led to the year-long whaling ban and lower-impact hunting plan. Sources say Australia may have the hunts monitored for illegal behavior by Customs and Border Protection Service.

Japan does little to disguise the fact that meat from the research whales is sold for consumption. Officials argue that there are enough minke whales to sustain the population. Conservationists are concerned by steady declines in the population numbers, in recent years.