It was a bizarre phenomenon that troubled researchers for decades – a mysterious under sea 'quacking' heard every winter and spring in the depths of the Southern Ocean.

Japan expects its whaling programme in the Southern Ocean will resume next year, court documents indicate.

Murray McCully is warning against indulging in "triumphalism". He fears that if we denigrate the Japanese, this will hurt their national pride, writes Brian Rudman.

Not too much was expected when Australia went to the International Court of Justice seeking to end Japanese whale hunting in the Southern Ocean.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says government and activists should not be gloating about a court decision to halt Japan's whaling programme.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully warned against gloating about Japan's defeat this morning.

The anti-whaling ship Bob Barker has docked in Wellington harbour.

Attempts to help a 4m-long pilot whale which tried to beach itself at Kaka Point last night failed, with the whale eventually left to die on the rocks.

A book about ambergris has created a s***storm in the South, with some Stewart Islanders unhappy their spot has been outed as a lucrative place to find sperm whale poo.

The resumption of so-called "scientific'' whaling in the Southern Ocean has been condemned by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

Australia will be monitoring Japan's whale hunt from the air instead of the sea in a decision both the Greens and whaling protesters have called a broken election promise.

A 12-year-old boy has made an impassioned plea to politicians to do more to stop whaling by the Japanese in the Southern Ocean.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. A dead sperm whale has exploded after stranding on a beach in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic.

A dead humpback whale spotted off the Timaru coast about two weeks ago has now washed up on the boulder beach between the sea and Lake Wainono, near Waimate.

New Zealand has accused Japan of treating the whaling convention as "an industry cartel" during an international court battle against whaling.

The International Court of Justice will hear arguments from New Zealand this week that Japan is breaking its agreement to hunt whales in the Antarctic only for scientific purposes.

A New Zealand surfer remembers seeing the eye and skin barnacles of a huge whale before it flung him 3m into the air.

A survey to work out how many humpback whales migrate through Cook Strait is to end today.

NZ and Australia's opposition to whaling is "an emotional moral crusade" that tolerates violent extremism, Japan has told the world's top court.

Lawyers for Japan are due to state its case today for continuing its whaling programme, at the International Court of Justice.

Australia and New Zealand join forces to fight Japan's whaling programme, with their legal battle starting in The Hague today.

While humans were stayed indoors out of the cold yesterday, orcas were enjoying a swim and a meal in the Bay the Islands.

The breathtaking aerobatics of a humpback whale astounded onlookers at an Australian marine resort.

Commercial fishermen have been praised for looking after an orca stranded in the Kaipara Harbour until rescuers arrived.

The protection afforded to blue whales in New Zealand waters may need to be increased, now a study has found they may be more regular visitors to the South Taranaki Bight than previously thought.