Dolphin "drive-hunting" starts in western Japan whaling town

This year's dolphin-hunting season kicked off Tuesday in the western Japan whaling town of Taiji, using a traditional "drive-hunting" method that animal-rights groups at home and abroad have labeled as cruel.The controversial hunting technique, in which fishermen herd dolphins and small whales into a cove where they can be killed or captured, was depicted in the 2009 documentary film "The Cove," which won an Academy Award.A fleet of fishing boats spotted a school of cetaceans some 12 kilometers off the coast at around 8:50 a.m. and captured three bottlenose dolphins and a Risso's dolphin af…READ FULL ARTICLE