Japan has started its controversial annual dolphin hunt in the coastal town of Taiji, a media report said on Monday.

The hunt sees the animals driven into a cove where some are slaughtered for their meat with knives in shallow waters, the BBC report said. Other dolphins are sold to aquariums and marine parks.

Environmentalists have said that the practice is cruel because the dolphins can take up to 30 minutes to die by suffocation or drowning. But the fisherman from Taiji say the community’s livelihood is dependent on the trade.

The dolphin hunting season is expected to last for about six months.

The Taiji…