Australians will take the lead in a wildlife conservation group's latest campaign against whale hunting in Antarctic waters when they man two ships that will confront Japanese whalers in December.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society announced Wednesday that its sixth campaign to defend the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from Japanese poachers has been dubbed Operation Waltzing Mathilda after the Australian national anthem as its ships Steve Irwin and Earthrace will have mostly Australian crew.

"We intend to waltz down to the Southern Ocean to dance dangerously with the Japanese whaling fleet and we intend to unroll a Matilda full of defensive tactics for the whales against the Japanese whale poachers," Kylie Herd, a Sea Shepherd crewmember from Perth, said in a press statement from Sea Shepherd.

The organization's latest campaign will also include an Animal Planet film crew to document the third season of Whale Wars.

"The cameras are more powerful than cannons and our ammunition is the naked truth about illegal whaling. We intend to keep the focus on Japanese crimes and we intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet - economically," said Laurens de Groot, a Sea Shepherd Netherlands director.