Isabel Lucas first came to our attention on the small screen as Tasha on the Aussie soap classic Home and Away. In 2004 she won the Logie Award for Best New Talent. From Summer Bay she then moved on to the big screen to star in the 2008 box office hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
She may look like just another Australian beauty with her long sun streaked hair, tanned skin and dazzling smile, however she is a little more extra ordinary. Lucas is a strong campaigner for Greenpeace International. Her passion lies in raising awareness of whale hunting and even going as far as going on mercy missions with Greenpeace to stop Japanese whaling ships from killing whales.
Japan is a major target for many of these anti-whaling campaigners as they hide behind the shield that they are catching the whales for scientific research but most, if not all, the whale meat ends up in the Japanese fish market. Japan is not alone, according to Greenpeace, Iceland and Norway are other two nations that also practice whaling.
In October 2007 Lucas, along with one of the stars of Heroes, Hayden Panettiere, was part of a group of 30 people from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society who took part in a protest against whaling in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. This brave group paddled out to the whales on surfboards to try and stop the hunt. Unfortunately they had to turn around after being intercepted by Japanese fishing boats. They then drove straight to Osaka airport and quickly left the country to avoid being arrested by the Japanese for trespassing. There is still an outstanding arrest warrant for Lucas (and most likely Panettiere) in Japan. This is the stuff movies are made of. Yet our very own Lucas has become the hero not in a movie, but in a real life battle: a battle to save whales from being hunted and killed.
It’s very refreshing to see this girl from our very own backyard turn into a strong woman who is standing up for what she stands for and protecting those in the world who cannot stand up for themselves.
Written by Lorraine Quach
