Japan has announced it will not continue whaling in the Antarctic, after the International Court of Justice ruled its "scientific" program was illegal.

Australia brought the action challenging Japan on the grounds the program was not scientific.

Defending the program after the ICJ ruling, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation to the court said many other countries continue to hunt and kill whales.

"It's not only Japan that is engaged in whaling. It's almost nearly 10 countries in the world, including the United States, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Russia among others," Nori Shikata told ABC radio's AM program.

ABC Fact Check investigates which countries are whaling.

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