Wildlife

Japanese Fishermen Terrorize Dolphins Before Slaughter

More than 200 bottlenose dolphins spent a second day penned in a cove by Japanese fishermen, U.S. conservationists said Sunday, many of them stressed and bloodied from their attempts to escape.

The dolphins will spend a third night without food or rest in Taiji Cove before the fishermen likely start to slaughter them Monday for meat, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said.

Until now, the fishermen have focused on selecting dolphins to be sold into captivity at marine parks and aquariums in Japan and overseas, the conservation group said. Twenty-five dolphins, including a rare albino calf, were taken on Saturday "to a lifetime of imprisonment," and another 12 on Sunday, the group said. Two dolphins have died in the process.

Although the hunting of dolphins is widely condemned in the west, Japanese defend the practice as a local custom -- and say it is no different to the slaughter of other animals for meat.