Dolphins killed as Taiji's controversial hunting season resumes in Japan

Tokyo (CNN) -- The slaughter of dolphins has begun again in a small Japanese village, in a controversial annual hunt that pits Western environmentalist values against what locals say are traditional hunting practices.

Taiji, a coastal town of 3,500 people in the Japanese prefecture of Wakayama, has a dolphin hunting season from September to March every year.

Local fishermen are permitted by the Wakayama prefectural government to hunt an annual quota of nearly 2,000 dolphins and porpoises from seven different species, in accordance with what the government says is traditional practice.

Most of the dolphins are killed for their meat, but many are sold live to aquariums around the world.

'Eerie' killing cove

In recent years, the Taiji dophin hunt has become a focal point for activists, particularly since the release of the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Cove, which documented the hunt and raised awareness of Taiji's dolphin hunting industry internationally.

Conservationist group Sea Shepherd has had a presence in Taiji during hunt season for the past five years, broadcasting tfrom the village via a livefeed, and mobilizing a social media campaign against the hunt.

The campaign has drawn celebrity and other high-profile supporters, with comedian Ricky Gervais and U.S. ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy tweeting their support in recent years, and former Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed actress Shannen Doherty visiting Taiji last week to witness the hunt.

"It's eerie," Doherty said in a statement. "You wonder how they (the hunters) are able to go to bed at night... I think being here rocks even the most hardened human being, because it is just atrocious."

Melissa Sehgal, Sea Shepherd's campaign co-ordinator for the Taiji project, which it calls "Operation Infinite Patience," said that after 15 days without the capture or killing of dolphins, the fishermen had begun killing pods of Risso's dolphins last week.

Four dolphin pods had been driven into the cove for killing so far this year, the group said.

"These dolphins are a gentle and docile species, but they continued to fight and struggle to stay alive," Sehgal told CNN.