TOKYO - In a cramped laboratory, a biologist with the Institute of Cetacean Research prepares plugs taken from whales' ears for age analysis. Scientists study their reproductive habits, food sources, and the mercury levels in their tissue.

And then, of course, there's the guy who studies the best way to kill them.

For nearly two decades, as commercial whaling has largely vanished under a global ban, a half-dozen Japanese vessels have sailed off to the waters of Antarctica and the northwestern Pacific each year to hunt, kill and bring home samples of whales for an ongoing research program - along with tons of meat for sale.

Possibly no Japanese government-backed activity has so isolated Tokyo from its allies in the United States and Europe, or so enraged environmental groups.

But at this institute, which serves as the heart of the operation, officials bristle at the suggestion they are doing anything wrong. Instead, they argue that they are fighting the good fight, and that the whaling ban is akin to Hindus forcing the world to stop eating beef, or Muslims banning pork.

Government negotiators are even more strident.

"Why should we back down?" said Shuya Nakatsuka, a Fisheries Agency official in charge of Japan's international whaling agreements. "It is those who oppose whaling who should change."

Tokyo's push for a resumption of commercial whaling will likely once again put it in the hot seat when the International Whaling Commission holds its annual convention in Italy in June. Last year's meeting ended with a resolution for Japan to halt its research program. That generated angry calls in Tokyo for the country to retaliate by quitting the group, or at least withhold funding.

"We are still considering our options," Nakatsuka said. "We will have to see how the meeting goes."

The research fleet, meanwhile, is readying its harpoons.

The Nisshin Maru mothership, accompanied by a trawler and sighting-sampling vessels, will set off May 13 on its annual summer hunt in the northwestern Pacific to kill 100 minke whales, 50 Bryde's whales, 50 sei whales and 10 sperm whales. Another 50 minke whales will be hunted along Japan's shores.

Earlier this year, the fleet returned from the Antarctic, where it killed about 400 minke whales.

The primary goals of the research are to determine how many whales are out there, how long they live, how fast they breed, what they eat and - ultimately - how many could be killed commercially without significantly depleting their stocks.

Hiroshi Hatanaka, who heads the program, said that whenever possible, data is taken with non-lethal methods, such as simple observation or firing arrows from crossbow-like devices to pull out plugs of skin for DNA sampling.

But he said that isn't enough. The research requires the killing of whales, and not just a few here and there - hundreds must be taken to get a statistically meaningful sample.

"We study their eating habits by examining the content of their stomachs," Hatanaka said. "Determining their age requires acquiring the tissue in their ears. You can't get this data by merely watching a live whale."

Greenpeace and several other environmental groups claim that is a smoke-screen.

"Though there may be some kinds of research that require killing, the Japanese researchers use this as an excuse to get what they really want, which is the whale meat," said Greenpeace whaling expert Junko Sakurai. "It's just commercial whaling in disguise."

Hatanaka acknowledged that about 3,000 tons of whale meat were sold last year, bringing in $52 million. But he said the money was used to fund the program in keeping with IWC rules, which require byproducts of the research not to be wasted.

Opposition notwithstanding, Japan has compiled a formidable case.

In 1992, the IWC's own scientific committee acknowledged that, with about 760,000 minke whales in the Antarctic, an annual take of 2,000 could continue for the next 100 years without hurting overall stocks.

But Dan Goodman, a Canadian who serves as a spokesman for the research institute, complained the scientific side of the argument has been ignored.

"Australia is the best example," he said. "They kill 6 million kangaroos every year, but they're opposed to the killing of even one whale. It's a political freebie. It's a 'your-problem-not-mine.' There's no constituency in Australia for whaling."

Goodman also noted Japan has been singled out more than Norway, which resumed commercial whaling despite the IWC ban.

"Norway is seen as having a good record on the environment," he said. "The perception of Japan in a broad array of environmental issues is very negative - 'They cut down every tree to make disposable chopsticks, they use way too much energy.' Japan has a public image problem."

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On the Net:

http://www.icrwhale.org/

http://www.iwcoffice.org/iwc.htm

http://whales.greenpeace.org/