UPDATE: The brutal slaughter of 250 bottlenose dolphins in Taiji, Japan has begun, despite protests from animal rights groups, conservationists and the general public.

Earlier, Yoko Ono and Caroline Kennedy were just two of the many high-profile people who pleaded with the fishermen of Taiji to release the 250 dolphins they were planning to kill.

Every year the fishermen of Taiji corral hundreds of dolphins into a secluded bay, select a few dozen for sale to aquariums and marine parks, and stab the rest to death for meat.

The town's fishermen defend the hunt as a cultural tradition, but the practise drew worldwide attention in 2010 when it became the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove.

In the last two days, some 250 dolphins have been "penned in a cove by Japanese fishermen...many of them stressed and bloodied from their attempts to escape," according to CNN.

The dolpins are reported to have been starved for 72 hours. Twenty-five dolphins were reportedly sold on Saturday, and another twelve on Sunday, including a rare albino calf. Two dolphins have died in the process.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society added in a statement that "those taken captive are forced to watch as the remaining members of their family are brutally killed for human consumption."

They have also harnessed the power of social media, live-streaming footage from the area each day and using the hashtag #tweet4taiji to raise awareness. And, it's worked.

Since news broke of the dolphin capture, the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, has tweeted that she is "Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing. USG [US Government] opposes drive hunt fisheries."

Actress Kirstie Alley tweeted: "Dear Japan, how could such a stunning, brilliant, gorgeous country allow the bloody injustices of THE COVE? Please reign in your murderers."

Yoko Ono has also weighed in, publishing a letter to the men of Taiji and the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, on her website on January 20.

Ono said the hunt "will give an excuse for big countries and their children in China, India and Russia to speak ill of Japan.

"I am sure that it is not easy, but please consider the safety of the future of Japan, surrounded by many powerful countries which are always looking for the chance to weaken the power of our country.

"At this very politically sensitive time, (the hunt) will make the children of the world hate the Japanese.

"For many, many years and decades we have worked hard to receive true understanding of the Japanese from the world.

"But what we enjoy now, can be destroyed literally in one day. I beg of you to consider our precarious situation after the nuclear disaster (which could very well affect the rest of the world, as well)."

The nuclear disaster she references is believed to be the 2011 triple meltdowns at Fukushima.

The Taiji Fisheries Cooperative Association, which is in charge of the dolphin hunt, have not commented on the situation.

- With AFP