Hayden Panettiere Aims to Aid Dolphins

"Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere, center, stands in front of a local fisheries union's building in Taiji, Wakayama prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. The actress visited the quiet Japanese fishing town of Taiji on Friday to call for an end to its annual dolphin hunt, but received a chilly reception.

Actress Aids Dolphins

Actress Hayden Panettiere, right, speaks to the media as she visits a cove in Taiji, Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. The "Heroes" star and her boyfriend, not shown, received a chilly reception in the Japanese fishing village, where they called for an end to its annual dolphin hunt. Her visit to Taiji comes just weeks after "The Cove," a gory depiction of Taiji's dolphin slaughter, won the Oscar for best documentary.

Actress Aids Dolphins

Actress Hayden Panettiere, center right, along with Jeff Pantukhoff, an anti-whaling activist from the U.S., center left, talks with the official of Taiji town hall where they were denied a meeting with the mayor, in Taiji, Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. Panettiere said she wanted to meet the mayor and representatives from the local fisheries union, but she Pantukhoff were blocked by two officials at the door of the town hall.

Actress Aids Dolphins

Hayden Panettiere, who plays an indestructible cheerleader on the hit TV series "Heroes," is also the spokeswoman for the "Save the Whales Again!" campaign, which wants to halt Taiji's dolphin hunt. The campaign cites studies that show dolphin meat contains dangerously high levels of mercury and is unsafe to eat, and says killing the animals is cruel and unnecessary.

Actress Aids Dolphins

Actress Hayden Panettiere, left, and her boyfriend, world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko, chat on a beach as they visit a cove in Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. In 2007, Panettiere and five other surfers swam into the cove at Taiji trying to protest against the town's annual dolphin hunt.

Actress Aids Dolphins

Actress Hayden Panettiere, center top, and her boyfriend, world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko, lie together on one of the pectoral fins of a dolphin drawn by members of oceanic research and protection group The Whaleman Foundation with white cloths for their protest performance on a cove beach in Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. Letters on the square cloths read: "Respect," left, and "Good health."

Actress Aids Dolphins

Actress Hayden Panettiere, right, and her boyfriend, world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko, lie on white cloths spread on a cove beach in the shape of a dolphin for their protest performance in Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Friday, March 26, 2010. Their visit to Taiji comes just weeks after "The Cove," a gory depiction of Taiji's dolphin slaughter, won the Oscar for best documentary. Fishermen in the village on the rocky coast of southwest Japan consider the hunt a proud legacy. But it has long been targeted by hardcore environmentalists and animal lovers, and the Oscar has given the opposition more mainstream attention.

Actress Aids Dolphins