TOKYO - A Japanese fishing town that holds a well-known annual hunt to kill and sell dolphins for meat has released 70 of the animals from its first catch of the season following an international outcry, a conservationist group said today.
The outcry has been growing against the hunt in Taiji, western Japan, since an award-winning American documentary, “The Cove,’’ this year showed dolphins being herded into an inlet and killed by fishermen with spears.
The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, led by Ric O’Barry, the dolphin trainer for the 1960s “Flipper’’ TV series, said today that group representatives witnessed and filmed 70 bottlenose dolphins - the same kind as Flipper - being released Sunday.
Taiji and its fishing association declined to comment. The hunt kills about 2,000 dolphins a year, and residents say it is part of their tradition and a way of getting food.
The released dolphins were part of a catch of about 100 on Sept. 9. The Taiji fishing association had said it would sell about half to aquariums and set the rest free.
The town has said it is uncertain whether it will continue to release dolphins.
“The world is watching,’’ said O’Barry, who visited Taiji earlier this month. “Stopping the slaughter and sale of dolphins would be a major victory for the people of Japan.’’
Taiji fishermen on Sept. 9 also caught 50 pilot whales, which were killed and sold as meat.
