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James Griffiths

Dolphin slaughter season began in Japan on Tuesday, as the country kicked off an annual cull repeatedly condemned by animal rights groups. 
Activists from the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd calling themselves 'Cove Guardians' have been monitoring a by in Taiji, southwestern Japan, since the six-month dolphin hunting season began earlier this month. 
First pod of 2014-2015 being driven into cove now. There is no hope for these dolphins now. #tweet4taiji 10:33am
	— Cove Guardians (@CoveGuardians) September 16, 2014

Tarps draped outside butcher house. First pod of season will be slaughtered today. #tweet4taiji 10:55am
	— Cove Guardians (@CoveGuardians) September 16, 2014

First dolphin murder of the drive hunt season is complete as dead bodies are dragged to Taiji butcherhouse. #tweet4taiji 11:28am
	— Cove Guardians (@CoveGuardians) September 16, 2014
There were no details on the number of kills. 
The local fishermen's association said they could not immediately confirm the report. 
The campaigners are streaming live footage of the secluded bay, into which local fishermen corral hundreds of dolphins for slaughter, a practice that thrust the small town into the global spotlight in 2010 when it was the subject of the Oscar winning documentary The Cove. 
Defenders of the cull say it is traditional and point out that the dolphins are not endangered, a position echoed by the Japanese government. 
They say Western objections are hypocritical and ignore the vastly larger number of cows, pigs and sheep butchered to satisfy demand elsewhere.
Watch: Japan's whale hunting process

Critics of the practice say there is insufficient demand for the dolphins' meat, which in any case contains dangerous levels of mercury, to justify the annual cull. 
Last year, US ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy drew intense criticism from nationalist organisations in the country when she tweeted that she was "deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing". Kennedy has not commented on this year's cull. 
Hong Kong animal rights groups have been publicly campaigning against the cull for a number of years. In August, Samuel Hung from the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society delivered a petition – signed by 4,000 Hongkongers – in person to the Japanese Consulate. The petition was also endorsed by a number of local and international animal rights groups, including the Jane Goodall Institute and Animals Asia. 
"Today a pod of Risso's were murdered at the Cove," Zoe Ng, a local animal rights campaigner, told the South China Morning Post. "We're frustrated beyond words. This year [the fishermen] hide behind tarps and still carry on their brutal murderous ways." 
Dolphin hunting season opened on September 1 and is expected to continue until the end of February. 



Japan slaughters first dolphins in widely-condemned annual cull

Fishermen, on a boat with their fresh kill, navigate blood-filled waters in the coastal town of Taiji in Japan's Wakayama prefecture, during last year's annual dolphin cull. Photo: AP

This photo from last year's cull shows dolphins being trapped in the cove during the selection process. Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

IWC gives indigenous Greenlanders go-ahead to kill hundreds of whales

Greenland hunters can now kill up to 10 humpback whales a year under the new ruling by the IWC. Photo: National Geographic

Greenland hunters can now kill up to 10 humpback whales a year under the new ruling by the IWC.Photo: National Geographic

News

Asia

Dolphin slaughter season began in Japan on Tuesday, as the country kicked off an annual cull repeatedly condemned by animal rights groups.


Update | Japan slaughters first dolphins in widely-condemned annual cull

Dolphin slaughter season began in Japan on Tuesday, as the country kicked off an annual cull repeatedly condemned by animal rights groups.