Eco-hero hunter dies

Canadian journalist Bob Hunter, who co-founded environmental group Greenpeace, has died. He was 63.

A columnist for the Vancouver Sun in the Sixties, Hunter first protested against US nuclear testing and saw the organisation grow into an international crusade. He also brought public attention to the hunting of whales and seals, and the dumping of toxic waste into the oceans. The thick-bearded campaigner, who was suffering from prostate cancer, was once named one of Time magazine’s top eco-heroes of the 20th century.

Greenpeace said Hunter’s spirit would live on “through the people he inspired, the whales he saved and the organisation he helped create”. It added: “Perhaps more than anyone else, Bob Hunter invented Greenpeace.”

Bruce Cox, executive director of Greenpeace Canada, said: “Bob was a creative force in shaping Greenpeace. His passion and his commitment translated into powerful communications, and his unorthodox approach to communications helped define Greenpeace.”

Hunter, who coined the phrase “Don’t Make a Wave” to describe his opposition to nuclear testing, boarded a small fishing boat, nicknamed-“Greenpeace,” in 1971 to set off to Alaska to protest at US nuclear testing.

“I thought I was going to be a reporter, taking notes,” Hunter later said. “In reality, I wound up on first watch.” He remained on board for 45 days.

Hunter helped establish overt campaign tactics that became a Greenpeace trademark. He became the first president of Greenpeace in 1973, and led it through its transformation into an international group that is now present in 40 countries, with more than 2.5million members worldwide.

His passion for ecology, coupled with his experience of the media, was critical to the organisation, the group said.

It was Hunter who adopted the term Rainbow Warriors to describe Greenpeace activists, as well as the phrase Media Mind Bomb to describe the activist impact on the public consciousness. He left Greenpeace in 1981
and turned to writing and broadcasting. In his most recent role, Hunter was the ecology news specialist on Canadian television.