Let’s hear it for the girl: Hayden Panettiere races to the rescue again

Sometimes, life imitates art.

Portrayed as a Hero on television, actress/activist Hayden Panettiere is continually lending her celebrity status toward a good cause.

The young actress, activist and Heroes star has once more returned to Taiji in an effort to raise awareness against the yearly dolphin slaughter that occurs there – as was highlighted in this year’s Oscar-winning film the Cove.

Panettiere has visited Taiji several times in the past to participate in protests against the dolphin hunt. This most recent visit comes just weeks after “The Cove,” a gory depiction of Taiji’s dolphin slaughter, which won an Academy Award last month.

Accompanied by her boyfriend, world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko and various environmental activists, Panettiere attempted to meet with town mayor and representatives from the local fisheries during her visit, but wasn’t even allowed through the front door.

The famously “indestructible cheerleader” on the series Heroes is also the spokeswoman for the “Save the Whales Again!” campaign – a campaign which shows that dolphin meat contains dangerously high levels of mercury and is unsafe to eat, and says killing the animals is cruel and unnecessary.

“We just wanted to have a very peaceful and relaxed conversation,” explained the actress of her visit. “”We are trying to peacefully come up with better ideas as to how to generate income and utilize the nature here. We’ve been to Taiji before and it’s a beautiful place with beautiful wildlife.”

A deadly tradition

Each year, the Japanese government allows about 19,000 dolphins to be killed. Taiji alone hunts about 2,000 dolphins every year for meat — less than other places — but is singled out in part because of its “oikomi” method of herding and killing them near the shore. Some are captured and sold to aquariums and dolphin shows at water parks.

Although the Taiji fishermen consider the hunt to be a proud legacy, it has long been targeted by hardcore environmentalists and animal lovers. Now with The Cove’s Oscar win, the opposition has gained more ground.

Residents once welcomed foreign visitors, but in recent years have grown weary of what they feel are one-sided portrayals and grisly snapshots shown out of context. Overzealous protesters and photographers are occasionally approached and scolded by rough-and-tumble locals looking to defend their town’s reputation.
The young actress expressed that she would “love to be a spokesperson” for the town if it abandons the hunt in an effort to build the town’s economy via tourism.

During this latest visit, she and her boyfriend were followed by a crowd of media throughout the day – in particularly as they walked through a large hole in a barrier along a path leading to the famous cove depicted in the movie. The cove was strewn with nets used to trap the dolphins, as well as firewood and debris left by the hunters.