Save the dolphins, save the world

OSAKA, Japan, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere, who is also a conservationist and skilled surfer, has physically tried to prevent fishermen from killing dolphins in Japan.

Despite worldwide disapproval, fishermen kill more than 22,000 of the mammals in Japan each year.

Panettiere, 18, recently paddled out on a surfboard in an effort to prevent a group of dolphins from being steered into a nearby cove and massacred, Sky News reported Wednesday.

She and a handful of other surfers from Australia and the United States were blocked by a fishing boat before they could reach the dolphins.

Faced with the ship's propellers and boathooks, the surfers returned to the beach.

It is believed the dolphins were later slaughtered.

"It was really frightening," Panettiere told Sky News. "It was so incredibly sad. We were so close to them and they were sky hopping, jumping out of the water to see us. ... 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."