Hayden Panettiere

Heroes star Hayden in tears (i got this picture from sky.com)

In November 2007, Hayden was awarded the “Compassion in Action Awards” from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunts in Japan. She almost got arrested in Japan and the surfers drove straight to Osaka airport and left the country to avoid being arrested for trespassing by the Japanese police.

She said to reporters breaking down in tears, "One little baby dolphin stuck his head out and kinda looked at me and the thought that it’s no longer with us is really hard to take."

She was at the age of 18 at the time. She is best known for her role in the TV blockbuster "Heroes." She paddled out on a surfboard in an attempt to reach a pod of dolphins to stop them from being killed by fishermen.

Surfers pushed away by fishermen (i got this picture on sky.com)

"She was recently in Tiji, Japan to save dolphins. Some thirty activists, including the ‘Heroes Cast’, formed a floating circle on surf boards offshore near the coastal village of Taiji, where thousands of dolphins are slaughtered at a cove in Taiji every year."

Over 22,00 dolphins are slaughtered by fisherman in Japan. In Taiijie, more than 2,00 mammals are slaughtered by the season. Many people in Japan felt that dolphins should just be treated as fish. They have hunted them for centuries, and they feel this is as an attack on their culture.