Maybe pint-size prime-time star Hayden Panettiere should have just gone with that dolphin-themed yin-yang tramp stamp on her lower back if she wanted to display her dedication to our blowholed buddies. But she had to be a hero.

In a scene that starts off like an opener to an O.C. episode, TV's ass-kickingest cheerleader and five activists from anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd hopped on surfboards and paddled out into a cove in Taiji, Japan, on Tuesday to interfere with an annual dolphin hunt. A hoop-jumping Sea World-style encounter this was not. Panettiere and crew got into shoving match with the fishermen—who clearly are bigger fans of Masi Oka—and found themselves bobbing in a scarlet pool, a scene ripped straight from Flipper's worst nightmare. In the end, the Heroes star is shown emerging from the water, doubled over and, well, wailing.