Protesters wearing bio-hazard suits coated themselves in 'blood' in the foyer of the consulate, located in the central office in Australia's second largest city, a spokesman for Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV) said.

"They (the Japanese) were pretty angry and wanted to get us out of there but we told them we meant no disrespect to them but simply wanted to demonstrate against the slaughter of these gentle giants," ALV vice-president Noah Hannibal told AFP.

Hannibal said the protesters were in the consulate for about an hour before they agreed to leave following negotiations with police but more demonstrations were planned if Japan refused to abandon the whale cull.

A police spokeswoman said officers removed the protesters from the building but they were not arrested.

Japan has been under fire for defying international protests and sending its whaling fleet into Antarctic waters to hunt around 1,000 whales, ostensibly for "scientific" purposes, exploiting a loophole in a 1986 moratorium on whaling.

However, the Japanese bowed to pressure last week by abandoning plans to kill around 50 humpbacks, which form the backbone of Australia's and New Zealand's lucrative whale-watching industry.

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