Sea of blood

Shocking and bloody images of dolphins being slaughtered by Japanese fishermen have been released by animal activists.

They show blood-filled coves and dead and dying mammals being hauled on boats.

Although the fishermen do not permit filming of their hunt, members of a California-based anti-whaling group managed to video a recent hunt in the small Japanese fishing town of Taiji.

"It's wholesale slaughter which results in immense suffering," said protester Nik Hensey. "It's a sight one just can't imagine."

The tape, shot by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, captures the end of a hunt in which fishermen pound on the water to confuse the dolphins' sense of direction before corralling them into small coves where they can be killed easily.

Though subject to government-set quotas, hunts are not banned under Japanese law and not subject to international regulations because they are carried out near the shore.

A fishing union representative said the killing is conducted as humanely as possible, and pointed out that dolphin hunts have been part of local culture for 400 years.

The dolphin season runs from October to April, and the meat is usually canned and sold in supermarkets.

The Taiji fishermen have caught more than 60 striped dolphins this year under the quota system. Because of international pressure to stop the killing, they keep out of the public eye, refusing on-the-record interviews. They erected barriers along the shore to discourage cameramen.

The Sea Shepherd activists said they managed to get the video by camping in the town for several weeks.

Three activists from the group - including a Briton - were briefly detained by Japanese police earlier this month after allegedly trying to stop a dolphin hunt and scuffling with a fisherman.