Hayden Panettiere was photographed with a pod of dolphins off Dana Point in California on April 27 for Conde Nast Traveler’s September issue (which hits newsstands August 23rd). The outspoken activist discussed her work fighting on behalf of whales and dolphins in the new issue and knows her bounds when it comes to what’s achievable.
“I’m an activist who’s aware of what’s realistic to achieve and what’s not. I wouldn’t waste my time going straight for the jugular I’m not going to preach to people to not eat meat,” she says.
The Scream 4 star first got interested in grey whales when she visited a Mexican breeding ground for them that was threatened by whaling. Since then she’s gone on to protest whaling and dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan going as far as sneaking offshore to film the slaughter of the dolphins.
“We knew we were up against a huge obstacle in Taiji. In the course of the slaughter, I saw a species in need. The trip inspired me to continue the fight.”
She received PETA’s “Compassion in Action” award for her efforts.
Now she’s the spokesperson for the Whaleman Foundation, an organization that fights to protect whales and dolphins from things like pollution and climate change; and more importantly the expansion of whaling.
Check out Hayden along with actress Renée Zellweger, musician Harry Connick Jr, and several others in the Trailblazers issue of Conde Nast Traveler, on newsstands August 23rd.
