Japanese town's annual dolphin hunt starts

Controversial six-month hunting season begins in Taiji with a minke whale hunt due to start at the weekend

A small Japanese town kicked off its controversial dolphin hunt on Thursday after bad weather delayed the start, according to a local fisheries official, while a separate whaling hunt was due to start at the weekend.

But the dolphin-hunt boats returned to Taiji's port - thrust into the global spotlight in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove - having failed to trap any of the mammals.