Anti-whaling activists who have released fresh footage of whale killings say the New Zealand and Australian governments must take action against Japan.
The Sea Shepherd organisation, which captured the images, says they are of protected minke whales caught in New Zealand's Ross Dependency, which is inside a Southern Ocean sanctuary where commercial whaling is banned.
The Green Party says the Government should send a naval vessel to the Southern Ocean.
McCully is condemning Japanese whaling, he should send the Navy down to monitor & send Tokyo a message Kiwis love & want to protect whales
— Gareth Hughes (@GarethMP) January 6, 2014
Sea Shepherd Australia managing director Jeff Hansen said the New Zealand and Australian governments are failing their countries by not being in the Southern Ocean to protect the whales.
A spokesperson for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research said Japan has a legal right to whale in the sanctuary for research purposes.
Last year New Zealand and Australia took a case to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. NZ's former representative to the International Whaling Commission, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, told Summer Report that they're still waiting on a decision.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says the government has repeatedly called on Japan to end its whaling programme and reiterates the message.
