US conservationists says some of the mammals will be sent to captivity and most will be killed for meat

Hundreds of bottlenose dolphins have been rounded up by Japanese fishermen and taken into captivity for slaughter in a town infamous for culling and killing the mammals, according to US conservationists.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said a pod of more than 250 dolphins including babies, juveniles and a rare albino calf had been driven into a cove in Taiji, in south-east Japan.

It said it was the largest pod to be driven into the cove in several years. Pictures uploaded to Facebook show the captured dolphins swimming in circles in shallow waters. Sea Shepherd is using the hashtag #tweet4taiji to raise awareness on social networks.

The society said most of the pod faced slaughter for human consumption, with the meat likely to fetch millions of dollars. A few would be sent to captivity in marine parks, it said.

Taiji shot to international prominence after the release of the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove. The town is in the middle of its traditional dolphin-hunting season, which runs between September and April.

"It will be a total of 19 hours before the dolphins will be selected for captivity," Sea Shepherd said. "Those not selected will be slaughtered for human consumption. This pod is far too valuable and worth millions of dollars. The baby albino dolphin alone is quite priceless."