One of Hayden Panettiere’s final on-camera appearances reflected a cause she had championed since she was a teenager: protecting dolphins and whales from captivity. PETA released a new campaign featuring the late “Heroes” and “Nashville” actress on Tuesday, days after her unexpected death at 36.
Filmed in late July, approximately two weeks before Panettiere died, the video shows the actress using the confined space of a bathtub to illustrate the conditions dolphins and whales experience inside marine amusement parks. The animal rights organization released the previously recorded material as a tribute to Panettiere and her nearly two decades of marine wildlife activism.
The campaign begins with Panettiere being photographed inside a cramped bathtub for a still advertisement. The visual was designed to create a comparison between the limited space available to a person inside a bathtub and the tanks used to hold large marine mammals in captivity.
Panettiere then appears fully clothed and standing in front of the tub as she delivers the campaign’s central message. “Imagine spending your entire life in a bathtub. That’s what it’s like for dolphins and whales in tiny tanks at marine amusement parks. We can end this, you and me,” the actress said.
She continued by asking viewers to consider the psychological impact captivity can have on marine animals. “Can you imagine their frustration, their trauma, their depression? All that is important and crucial for their well-being is ripped away,” Panettiere added.
The campaign is aimed at marine parks such as SeaWorld and urges the public to stop financially supporting facilities that keep dolphins and whales in tanks.
PETA Releases Video In Tribute To The Actress
PETA confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the campaign was filmed shortly before Panettiere’s death. The organization decided to release the photographs and video to honor her life while advancing the message she recorded.
“Today, in tribute to Panettiere’s life and legacy of compassion, PETA is sharing the ad and moving video encouraging everyone to honor her memory by doing as she asked: refusing to buy a ticket to any facility that condemns these sensitive animals to a tiny concrete tank,” PETA said in a statement.
Panettiere concludes the video with a direct request to her supporters. “Vow today to never go to a marine park that keeps dolphins in extreme captivity. Together, we can end this cruelty,” she said.
The ‘Heroes’ Star Launched ‘Save The Whales Again!’
Panettiere’s advocacy for marine wildlife began long before her latest collaboration with PETA. In early 2007, she launched the “Save the Whales Again!” campaign in Hollywood alongside several of her “Heroes” castmates.
Panettiere used the initiative to educate the public about cruelty toward marine mammals while serving as a spokesperson for the Whaleman Foundation, an ocean conservation group focused on dolphins, whales and their habitats.
Later that year, the actress put herself directly in the middle of an international controversy involving Taiji, Japan’s annual dolphin hunt. Panettiere was only 18 when she traveled to the coastal village with anti-whaling advocates. The trip occurred while she was starring on “Heroes,” giving the young actress a significant public platform that she was willing to risk using for a politically sensitive cause.
Hayden Panettiere Confronted Dolphin Hunters In Japan
The group initially planned to participate in a surfers’ memorial ceremony on the water. After learning that pilot whales, including calves, had been driven into the cove, a smaller group returned before dawn. They paddled into water that the Whaleman Foundation described as stained red as they attempted to reach the animals awaiting slaughter.
“The reason we surfers were there was to share the water, stained red with blood, at eye-level, with our ocean kin awaiting their execution,” surfer Dave Rastovich, co-founder of Surfers for Cetaceans, wrote on the Whaleman Blog. Fishermen reportedly used boat propellers and long poles to prevent the activists from advancing. The confrontation continued for more than ten minutes before the group was forced to return to shore.
Footage from the incident was later incorporated into “The Cove,” which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Reports subsequently circulated that Japanese officials had issued a warrant for Panettiere’s arrest, although the existence of that warrant was later disputed.
Panettiere remained committed to the cause despite the controversy. “We must unite as a world to solve our increasing international environmental crises,” she said in a statement at the time. When asked about the experience by the MarineBio Conservation Society, Panettiere made it clear that the potential consequences had not changed her position. “I’d do it again,” she said.
Actress Returned To Taiji Three Years Later
Panettiere returned to Taiji in March 2010, weeks after “The Cove” won its Academy Award. This time, the actress pursued a different strategy. Rather than attempting another direct confrontation on the water, she sought meetings with the town’s mayor and representatives of the local fisheries union.
Two officials reportedly prevented her from entering the town hall. “We are trying to peacefully come up with better ideas as to how to generate income and utilize the nature here. We’ve been to Taiji before and it’s a beautiful place with beautiful wildlife,” Panettiere said at the time.
