Experts rubbish Japanese claims on skinny whales

Australian scientists have expressed serious doubts about a Japanese study which claims whales are losing blubber because more of them are competing for food.

The Japanese Government-backed study, published in the Polar Biology survey, examined more than 6,000 dead whales.

It concluded that the amount of blubber on Antarctic Minke whales had declined over the past 18 years because increased numbers of whales were competing for krill and other fish.

But Dr Nick Gales from the Marine Antarctic Division has told ABC's Radio National the study is seriously flawed.

"If there is a real decline in blubber then the reasons for that are much more varied and it could be a whole range of things that have nothing to do with amount of krill and whales," he said.