Bloodied and writhing in pain, an Australian actor stars in a graphic video calling for an end to global whaling.
David Field who has starred in films including Chopper, The Inbetweeners 2 and Two Hands, plays a solo role in the 101-second production by conservation group, Sea Shepherd.
"If this cruel and cold-blooded practice were to happen to humans the perpetrators would be jailed immediately," Field says after recreating the harpooning death of a whale in the video titled The Ultimate Death Scene.
WARNING: Graphic content.
In a statement accompanying this week's release of the video on YouTube, Sea Shepherd boss Jeff Hansen said the film aims to increase awareness of whaling and drive support for his organisation so it can continue to campaign against the "barbaric practice".
"The slaughter of these beautiful and majestic whales is horrifying, it needs to stop now," he said.
"No one will ever know the pain and suffering these playful, gentle giants go through from the time the explosive harpoon ripped through their bodies to the time they drew their last breath in a red sea full of their own blood."
Sea Shepherd claims that since the International Whaling Commission enacted a moratorium on commercial whaling, more than 25,000 of the mammals have been killed under the guise of scientific research by Iceland, Norway and Japan.
"The whaling industry claim that a whale dies within minutes," a caption on the video reads.
"The truth is they are first pursued to the point of exhaustion, then shot with an explosive harpoon causing massive internal trauma. They are then violently dragged to a vessel, and shot some more before finally dying alone in their own blood."
The video then shows aerial footage of the practice.
