Hayden Panettiere was remembered as more than just an actress in her final campaign with PETA, a project that was captured in Los Angeles weeks before her sudden death at 36.
In an image shared earlier this week, Panettiere posed from a bathtub to protest marine parks like SeaWorld, “who sentence dolphins to a lifetime of suffering and loneliness in captivity,” the organization said.
Panettiere’s quest for marine life conservation was a life-long pursuit, beginning when she was just a teenager advocating for animals with the Whaleman Foundation.
HAYDEN PANETTIERE’S MOTHER POINTS FINGER AT BRIAN HICKERSON AFTER ‘NASHVILLE’ STAR’S DEATH AT 36
Her advocacy work involved protesting, lobbying and fundraising for animal welfare efforts. Most recently, the “Heroes” actress begged for an end to marine life captivity.
“Can you imagine their frustration, their trauma, their depression? All that is important and crucial for their well-being is ripped away. … We can end this. You and me,” Panettiere pleaded in her last PETA campaign.
“In their ocean homes they can be with their families, dive deep to escape the hot sun and enjoy the rain on their backs… all of that is taken from them when they are confined to small tanks.”
The “Remember the Titans” star became a prominent spokesperson at a young age for the Whaleman Foundation and the Save the Whales Again! campaign.
In 2007, Panettiere, along with actress Isabel Lucas and a number of activists, traveled to Taiji, Japan, to protest the slaughter of dolphins by Japanese fishermen.
Panettiere donned a wetsuit and entered the water on a surfboard to help form a memorial circle for dolphins that had already been killed that morning.
The peaceful demonstration turned violent when the fishermen attacked the floating protesters with poles and spinning propellers, the foundation reported.
Footage from the protest appeared in “The Cove,” a documentary about the Taiji dolphin hunts, which later won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
She later returned to Japan with Whaleman Foundation founder Jeff Pantukhoff and attempted to meet with local leaders to discuss alternatives to dolphin hunting, but was prevented from entering town hall.
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“I wasn’t sure what to expect on my trip back to Japan,” Panettiere said after returning. “I think a lot of people assume that I hate Japan, or would want to boycott Japanese products because of my issues with their dolphin hunting policies. But really, nothing could be further from the truth.
“It’s a beautiful place — the people there have such an intense appreciation for nature. I absolutely love it. I think the media likes to paint a picture of West vs. East — Us vs. Them. But I think we all have more in common than that.”
She added, “I wanted to take this trip to reach out to people in Japan that feel the same way. You see, the majority of people living there don’t know about the dolphin hunts, and would never condone them if they did. And for the few who do eat dolphin meat, there is a serious human health concern. Dolphin meat is highly toxic and isn’t safe for people to eat.”
Panettiere was able to meet with officials and political leaders in the area, and despite tense times, she had “never been more hopeful” for the future.
“The word is getting out in Japan, and I have faith that the people there will ultimately be the ones to shut down the cove for good,” Panettiere said at the time.
HAYDEN PANETTIERE: A LIFE IN PICTURES
Her advocacy work helped land her a spot on the Time’s celebrity “do-gooders” list, and in 2008, Panettiere earned The Humane Society’s Wyler Award for her efforts against the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Past recipients of the award include Paul McCartney, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Ian Somerhalder and Kesha.
That same year, Panettiere stood alongside Senator John Kerry for a joint press conference on Capitol Hill to urge the government for strong leadership in opposing commercial whaling and protecting marine life.
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“Dolphins and whales are some of the most contaminated animals on the planet and, like canaries in a coal mine, they are telling us that something is seriously wrong with our oceans,” Panettiere said.
“We are poisoning the oceans’ food chain and ultimately poisoning ourselves and I think that it is vitally important to get this truth out to the younger generations who, after all, will be the ones to face up to the problems that are occurring today.”
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The “Nashville” actress died Sunday in Greenville, South Carolina. Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were with Panettiere at the time of her death, according to a police report.
Hickerson was among those at the Greenville apartment when Panettiere was found, and authorities executed a search warrant at the residence, according to the report. Police also conducted a welfare check Wednesday at a South Carolina home linked to the Hickerson brothers, but no one answered the door.
Preliminary autopsy results found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death, Fox News Digital confirmed.
“First responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest,” the Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement. “EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 PM.”
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The Greenville County Coroner’s Office and Greenville City Police Department launched parallel investigations into her death.
“At autopsy no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death,” the coroner’s statement continued. “The cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.
“This investigation remains active and ongoing. No further details are available for release at this time.”
On Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was contacted and is assisting in the investigation.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter Kaya, who was born in 2014, with her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
