These violent tactics didn't scare away Panettiere. She recently went back to Japan to promote her "Save the Whales, Again!" campaign with Jeff Pantukhoff, founder and executive director of the Whaleman Foundation. Despite international attention, many in Japan are still unaware of the annual hunts that take place in villages along the Japanese coastline, and the dangers of eating contaminated dolphin and whale meat.

Paniettere hopes to help change that during her current tour of Tokyo, Osaka and Taiji. The hunts kill more than 20,000 dolphins annually, and the statistics on mercury poisoning in Taiji are sobering: Mercury levels in Taiji residents are more than 10 times the national average in Japan.

As documented in The Cove, the highly contaminated meat from the dolphins killed in Taiji is sold as whale meat in fish markets and served in school lunches. High levels of mercury in humans has been linked with severe nerve damage and Minimata disease. Studies on whale and porpoise meat have also shown high levels of PCBs, DDT and other contaminates, all of which are unsafe for human consumption.

For ways that you can get involved, visit: takepart.com/savethewhalesagain and takepart.com/thecove.

Source: Save the Whales Again