She was 18 years old, and the world knew her for playing Claire, the indestructible girl from Heroes. But in October 2007, Hayden Panettiere was not on a film set. She was in the water, in Taiji, Japan, paddling on a surfboard toward a cove where local fishermen hunted dolphins.
Along with five other activists, she tried to place herself between the boats and the animals. The fishermen responded with propellers and long poles to push them away. The confrontation lasted more than ten minutes. That scene ended up in The Cove, the documentary that won the Oscar in 2010 for exposing this slaughter.
It was not an isolated gesture. She returned to Taiji in 2010, this time with her then-partner, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, to call for an end to the hunt. Authorities shut the door on her when she tried to meet with the mayor.
A year later, she returned again, now alongside Sea Shepherd, and paddled back toward those waters. She was the voice of the Whaleman Foundation. She pressured a Norwegian ambassador to stop whaling.
She spoke at the United States Capitol, with the support of Senator John Kerry. The world applauded her on the red carpet. She preferred the sea, even though that sea welcomed her with blows.
