"The controversial six-month dolphin hunting season began on Monday in the infamous town of Taiji, but bad weather would delay any killing, a local official told AFP.

The annual catch, in which people from the southwestern town corral hundreds of dolphins into a secluded bay and butcher them, was thrust into the global spotlight in 2009 when it became the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

'The dolphin hunting season started today and will last until the end of February,' said an official of the Taiji fisheries association, adding the season for hunting pilot whales, which also begins today, will last until April."

AFP had the story September 1, 2014. [2]