Japanese whaling fleet returned to port on Thursday after killing over 300 minke whales in its first Antarctic hunt since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled its whaling program to be illegal in 2014.

According to a statement released yesterday by the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), as many as 333 whales, including a number of pregnant females, have been caught in Antarctic waters.

In November 2015, Japan's Fisheries Agency launched a new whaling program, claiming that the country would kill 333 minke whales each year over the next 12 years. Then, Japan sent its whale hunting vessels to the Antarctic in December, which evoked opposition from around the world.

In March 2014, the ICJ declared Japan's whaling program to be commercial and illegal, and ordered that it immediately cease. However, the Japanese government maintains that its whale hunting serves as "scientific research."