Here's why Japan just killed 200 pregnant whales with a 'research' ship

A fleet of Japanese ships returned from Antarctic waters on Thursday, March 24, after more than three months at sea.

The sailors' bounty: hundreds of dead Minke whales, more than 200 of which were females pregnant with calves, according to Reuters.

The four vessels, subsidized in part by Japan's government, are considered by many a violation of both a global ban on whale hunting and a recent ruling by an international court of law.

Japan claims these expeditions are scientific in nature. However, many researchers outside the nation strongly disagree.

Here's why Japan keeps sponsoring whale hunts in spite of intense global outcry working against the practice.