Japanese fishermen are trapping hundreds of dolphins in Taiji cove in central Japan in an annual hunt.<br /> <br />Boats began herding more than 250 dolphins into pens, activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said.<br /> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) SEA SHEPHERD ACTIVIST MELISSA SEHGAL, SAYING:<br /> <br />"These dolphins are wrangled and wrestled into the killing cove, where they've sustained multiple injuries. Dolphin killers deliberately run over the pod with skiffs, they wrestle them, man-handled them into captive nets before even being slaughtered."<br /> <br />Most of the dolphins are expected to be slaughtered for meat, and some sold to aquariums.<br /> <br />Fishermen and other locals say the cull is a tradition and a source of livelihood that has been around for thousands of years.<br /> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) STAFF VETERINARIAN AT TAIJI WHALE MUSEUM, SHINJI SAKAMOTO, SAYING:<br /> <br />"People are just thinking too emotionally about the dolphins. They want to protect them just because they're cute
