Japanese fishermen are finishing an annual slaughter of bottlenose dolphins after driving about 500 into a cove.
A board member of the local Taiji fishermen's union says fewer than 100 dolphins will be sold live or slaughtered and that the rest will be released.
The regional government has given fishermen a catch limit 2026 small porpoises and dolphins for the current season, with nearly 560 bottlenose dolphins allowed to be taken, CNN reports.
On Monday, the fishermen selected dolphins to be sold to marine parks and aquariums and trainers marked the dolphins least suitable for captivity so they could be killed or released.
The US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, has tweeted that she is deeply concerned by the inhumanity of the dolphin hunt.
