Hundreds of scientists have rallied against a new Japanese proposal to kill whales in the name of research — a plan one New Zealand marine biologist calls whaling in disguise.

Twenty-one surviving whales from a mass stranding at Whakatane have been successfully refloated and are back at sea. DOC staff and volunteers at Ohope Beach had initially been waiting for high tide at 6pm tonight to attempt the refloat. However the conditions changed and around 11am they were able to successfully refloat the pilot whales and they had headed out to sea. The refloat followed 30 other whales who were refloated last night.

Centuries of over-exploitation of whales for their meat and blubber has seen populations of most species plummet. But with no small amount of irony, the tables have turned with research discovering that we need whales for a healthy marine ecosystem.

To mark the start of Japan's whaling season, workers in the coastal town of Minamiboso carved up one of the animals before a crowd of school children.

One of the rarest and best-loved whales in the world has been spotted off the coast of Australia, in what is believed to be the first sighting of the year.

A long weekend away turned out to be better than expected for Andrea Hegan, who paddled alongside a number of orca whales near Kawau Island on Sunday.

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.

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

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 warned against gloating about Japan's defeat this morning.

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

A Japanese whaling ship is reported to have tailed an anti-whaling ship into waters off Otago against the wishes of the NZ Govt, which labelled the move 'disrespectful'.

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.

Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, testified in a contempt of court hearing in Seattle.

A Kiwi diver was dragged behind a humpback whale as he tried to free it from a tangle of commercial fishing gear in Fijian waters.