Senate urges Turnbull to act on whaling

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been urged by the Senate to confront his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, over the dispatch of whaling ships to the Southern Ocean.

The Greens and Palmer United motion, backed by the Senate on Wednesday, also calls on the government to send a Customs patrol vessel to the Southern Ocean, after Japan sent a "research" whaling mission on Tuesday.

Liberal frontbencher Scott Ryan said Mr Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Environment Minister Greg Hunt were making "high-level" representations to the Japanese government expressing Australia's deep disappointment at the decision.

He said the government was considering all options, including monitoring.