Celebzee

Hayden Panettiere, “the cheerleader” on Heroes, may seem like just a pretty face, but the girl’s got guts. This weekend in Japan, she and five others surfed out to some dolphins, in an attempt to keep them from part of the 22,000 dolphins that are slaughtered each year. The group intended to prevent the dolphins from swimming into a cove, where Japanese fisherman were massacring them.

“We were so close to them and they were sky hopping, jumping out of the water to see us,” said Hayden.

The group of Australian and American surfers were stopped by a Japanese fishing boat, which prevented them from getting to the dolphins, which seemed to be caught in a net. Dolphin hunting is a Japanese custom that has gone on for centuries, and most Japanese don’t think that dolphins should be seen as any different than fish, and dolphin is actually a delicacy.

Needless to say, the group wasn’t welcome, and the fishing boat blocked the group with its propellers. When they tried to go around, used a boat hook to keep them away. The highly-dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation lasted for ten minutes before the group was force to head back to shore. “It was really frightening,” said Hayden. “Some of us were hit by the boathook. But in the end all we really worried about was the dolphins.”

Some of the dolphins caught are not eaten or killed, but put in captivity in the United States and other countries, in various “Swim-with-the-dolphins” programs. Since the demand for programs like this are so high, it raises the demand for dolphins in general, so the dolphin hunting is able to continues as well.

It’s highly probable that the same dolphins this group tried to save were slaughtered just a little later. Hayden, a tear, trailing down her cheek said, “One little baby dolphin stuck his head out and kind of looked at me, and the thought that it’s no longer with us is really hard to take.”

For more information about the dolphin slaughters, and what you can do to help, check out www.savejapandolphins.org.