70s
1977
Ships: OHANA KAI
In service: 1977 Built: 1942 Type of ship: former US navy submarine chaser Length: 51m Max. speed: 20 knots Crew: approximately 25 Formerly the Island Transport, the first ship actually owned rather than chartered was renamed Ohana Kai, a name meaning ‘Family of the Seas’. She was also the fastest ship the organisation has ever had. Used in 1977 to pursue Soviet whalers in the North Pacific, she was able to shadow the whaling fleet for over a week, during which time not a single whale was caught. Crew from the Ohana Kai were able to drive two of their inflatables right up the stern slip of the Dalniy Vostok factory ship. Russian crew gathered around, and the Greenpeacers handed out Russianlanguage literature and whale pins. “The whales are your comrades,” Paul Spong told them. The shocked but curious crew accepted the gifts. The ship was docked in San Francisco for a couple of years, before Greenpeace sold her again. She was finally scrapped in 1991. image © Campbell Plowden / Greenpeace
32 THE GREENPEACE chronicles
1977 French actress Brigitte Bardot supports the seal campaign, which has become a headline topic in media around the world. At least 45 journalists from across Europe accompany Bardot when she steps out on the ice to join Greenpeace protesters at Belle Isle. Greenpeace goes into action against Soviet whaling vessels in the North Pacific during the summer whaling season. Film of the voyage and the slaughter of sperm whales is broadcast across the US as a one-hour documentary, with US president Jimmy Carter making a special request to view it. As the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference takes place in Canberra, Greenpeace joins an anti-whaling convoy setting out from Sydney to confront Australian whalers. The activists use Zodiacs to place themselves directly in the line of fire, and films of the actions are shown on major Australian television networks, drawing considerable public attention. Greenpeace follows this up with another coup when its efforts lead US Customs to refuse entry to a tanker carrying 1,200 tons of sperm whale oil, described as fish oil, which has been sent by the Australian whaling company. The tide of public opinion in Australia turns against whaling, and within two years the last Australian whaling station will close down. Greenpeace is accorded observer status at the IWC.