It's a sad fact that Greenpeace USA is doing more harm than good for the dolphins, and the recent Greenpeace USA brochure is only the latest example. Among people working in the field, it's widely believed that Greenpeace USA has no productive plan for dolphins aside from raising money on the issue. There is a reluctance in the conservation community to speak ill of other organizations, but almost anyone with real experience in the dolphin issue will say off-the-record that all that remains of Greenpeace USA's campaign are inexperienced people, spending an enormous budget recklessly with no coherent plan and minimal communication with other organizations.

As a founder of Greenpeace USA and the individual who created the Greenpeace International Dolphin Campaign in 1982, I feel responsible to make a statement. In my opinion, buying a can of "dolphin safe" labeled tuna in the US today is less likely to harm dolphins than is giving a donation to Greenpeace USA.

This is a strong indictment, and it is made after a lot of thought. Greenpeace USA, through avarice, malice and/or gross incompetence, is now a threat to the dolphins. If Greenpeace USA were to apply to be considered as a "dolphin saving" corporation under Earthtrust's criteria, it could not meet the standards required of tuna firms. In my experience, Greenpeace USA has done nothing much useful for dolphins in several years, capitalizing instead on claiming the accomplishments of others as their own while creating photo opportunities for fundraising.

In this case it seems that Greenpeace USA had some potentially good points to make about the valid issue of global fisheries bycatch, yet mixed it up with the "dolphin safe" tuna issue out of naivete, obstinacy, and the fact that the organization as a whole really doesn't give a damn about dolphins and never did. Like the tuna industry before it, Greenpeace USA uses dolphins as a handy way to make money. An "incidental" side effect of this exploitation is the threat of renewed dolphin deaths.

The story of Greenpeace International's systematic international abuse of the dolphin issue for headlines and fundraising could fill a book, and I may be the one to write it. Regarding the Greenpeace empire, this issue is only the tip of a large and very weird iceberg. For now, though, let me offer my sincere apology to those who care about dolphins for my part in bringing Greenpeace USA and International into an issue they have come to abuse. The current Greenpeace USA "dolphin" position is an embarrassment.

Don White
8/18/93