GREENPEACE FOUNDATION ADVISORY BOARD
The Greenpeace Foundation Advisory Board is made up of individuals who have shaped the Greenpeace movement, and others whose dedication and experience help direct the organization’s stands on issues.On this Advisory Board sit the Founders who originally directed the global “greenpeace” movement into the issues of whales, dolphins, and destructive fisheries; the three issues for which “greenpeace” is perhaps best and most positively known.
Don White
An environmental campaigner and strategist for the last 25 years, is considered a founder of the global Greenpeace movement. In addition to co-founding this organization, he co-founded Greenpeace USA in 1980 and created the International Greenpeace Dolphin Campaign in 1982. His most prominent environmental victories have been leading the global campaign against deep-sea driftnets; working to end dolphin kills by the tuna industry; adapting scientific techniques to document illegal whaling; and creating new models for environmental protection which may survive “free trade” treaties. Don is President of the organization Earthtrust, was a founding Board member of Species Survival Network, and sits on the boards of a number of conservation and science organizations.
Sharon Sue White
A Greenpeace Activist since 1977, Sue combines a biologist and organizational-management background with utterly uncompromising advocacy for wildlife. On behalf of this wildlife, she has won court cases, chained herself to consulates, run special events, produced video specials, and traveled the world as a speaker and delegate, from the IWC to the United Nations.
She is usually seen in the company of Bing and Bippy, her two border collies.
She is seen here with her friend Nuka Au, an abandoned monk seal pup she helped rescue and rehabilitate from the remote islets of the Hawaiian chain.
Dr. Paul Spong
Dr. Spong is the internationally-reknowned whale scientist who first got the Greenpeace movement involved in the whaling issue. He first worked with this organization in 1977 as Campaign Director for the Ohana Kai anti-whaling campaign. Today he directs Orcalab in British Columbia, and travels the globe on the whales’ behalf.
A short letter he wrote about his passion - saving the whales:
Save the whales - save the Earth
by Dr. Paul Spong, Senior Advisor
This old slogan comes from a poster that went with an album by Country Joe McDonald called "Paradise with an Ocean View". To me at the time, and still today, it sums up the reason for becoming involved in campaigns to save whales and dolphins. The logic is simply that if we can‘t save the whales and dolphins, whose plight is so obvious, how can we possibly hope to save the rest of our endangered planet? That’s why the United Nations made the whale the symbol of environmental crisis in 1972, when it held its inaugural Environment meeting in Stockholm. It also explains why I got involved with Greenpeace in 1973, and why I’m supporting the efforts of Greenpeace Foundation now.
Back in the early ‘70’s many species of whales literally faced biological extinction. The direct action campaigns of Greenpeace, together with the efforts of many others, helped avert that disaster. In 1982, the International Whaling Commission voted to impose an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling around the world. That was a huge victory for the whales, and for everyone who had fought for them.
Unfortunately, though the moratorium was a giant step forward, whaling hasn’t stopped. In the years since 1982, thousands of whales have been killed openly by Norway (under IWC "objection" rules) and Japan (as so-called "scientific" whaling). Hundreds of thousands of dolphins have died in tuna nets. The horrific "drive fisheries" of Japan and Denmark continue unabated. So-called "aboriginal" whaling is expanding. Today, as explained in the pages of this web site, whales and dolphins are in great jeopardy. Worldwide commercial whaling is on the brink of starting up again; tuna fleets may soon be allowed to kill dolphins again; and the United States has authorized the Makah Nation of Washington state to kill friendly Gray whales. These are very dark days for whales and dolphins. All their friends need to come together to help again.
The world’s original "Greenpeace", which I became involved with in 1973, came together in British Columbia, founding a movement. Ultimately that group joined Greenpeace International, expanding its horizons to encompass many vital issues besides whales. That was certainly appropriate. But the focus on whales and dolphins was lost somewhere along the way; views changed and energy was diverted elsewhere. My hope is that the initiatives of Greenpeace Foundation will bring a vitally needed focus on whales and dolphins back to the entire Greenpeace movement, and involve the whole world again. You see, I still believe that if we can save the whales, we can save the Earth.
Stan Minasian
Longtime director of Marine Mammal Fund and a former board member of Greenpeace in San Francisco, Stan is an award-winning filmmaker and tireless dolphin advocate.
Stan Minasian has by any measure been a central player in the fight to save dolphins and whales.
Stanley M. Minasian founded Marine Mammal Fund in 1973 to educate the public on marine mammal issues, especially the killing of dolphins during intentional chase and encirclement in commercial purse seine fishing operations. Under Minasian, MMF initiated two major lawsuits against the U.S. government on the tuna/dolphin issue. The 1974 lawsuit sought to acquire extensive film footage taken by government employees aboad a tuna boat showing dolphins being killed in the nets. This footage, acquired through court order, became the basis for the first documentary film on the tuna/dolphin issue, titled Last Days of the Dolphins? produced by MMF and hosted by Dick Cavett. The second lawsuit came in 1993, filed against the U.S. Dept of Commerce for allowing Mexican dolphin-unsafe tuna into the United States in violation of the Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA). That victory halted all importation of dolphin-unsafe tuna into the USA.
Minasian has produced eleven television documentaries and/or home videos on marine mammals and other animal issues. Broadcasters include Discovery Channel (The Free Willy Story: Keiko‘s Journey Home and Where Have All The Dolphins Gone, hosted by George C,. Scott) Turner Broadcasting Systems (Dolphins in Danger, hosted by Bridget Fonda). He was senior author of The World’s Whales, published by Smithsonian Press, and The Whales of Hawaii.
Currently, Minasian is producing several documentaries on animals for domestic and international television, and recently established the Athletes for Animals project under Animal Fund, directed by world-class triathlete and Iron Man competitor Eric Harr. He remains the Executive Director of Marine Mammal Fund, and is President of Animal Fund.
The USA’s oldest and original Greenpeace, proudly unaffiliated with Greenpeace USA