Fishermen at the Japanese town of Taiji shrugged off protests by animal rights activists Tuesday to carry out their grisly annual dolphin hunt.

Japanese broadcaster TBS said the first hunt of the season in the town, which was made famous by the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove," took place Tuesday, without mentioning how many dolphins were involved.

Sea Shepherd, one of several animal rights groups that has been monitoring fishermen in Taiji since the season began in September, said that 14 dolphins were killed Tuesday, while six - mothers and calves - were spared, at least temporarily.

"Mama dolphin, baby dolphin. No," chanted several Western activists shown by TBS standing near the ocean.

TBS showed one activist, identified on the Sea Shepherd website as Steve Thompson of the Taiji Dolphin Action Group, raising his voice to fishermen at 5 am.

Japan has long maintained that killing and eating whale is a cherished culinary tradition, and conducts annual hunts under the name of research whaling.

It says that killing dolphins is not banned under any international treaty and that the animals are not endangered, adding that dolphins need to be culled to protect fishing grounds.