The Government has released Defence surveillance footage of a Japanese whaling fleet in the Ross Sea, in an attempt to sway Japanese public opinion over their Government's whaling programme.
The footage, taken in the past three days, was released yesterday at a press conference in Auckland by Conservation Minister Chris Carter.
Mr Carter said a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion undertaking surveillance against illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean had "come across" the Japanese whaling vessels.
The footage shows three whaling vessels harpooning, hauling and processing whales.