A Japanese harpoon strikes the whale with a stomach-turning thud. The exhausted animal is hauled from the water, flesh torn, purple organs spilling from its body. This is the shocking evidence of a Japanese whaling hunt in an Australian whale sanctuary that the federal government did not want you to see. Australian authorities refused to release the video at the request of charity Sea Shepherd in 2012 over fears it would damage the country’s relationships with Tokyo. But the shocking footage – filmed in 2008 by a customs official – has now been made available after a prolonged Freedom of Information bid by the anti-whaling group. The video shows a so-called Japanese “research” vessel slaughtering minke whales, capturing the moment one is hit by an explosive harpoon before being reeled into the ship. Jeff Hansen, Sea Shepherd’s managing director, said the whales were being hunted in an Australian Southern Ocean whale sanctuary.