In the 1970s and 1980s, Greenpeace became a global symbol of fearless action. What began as a small band of activists fighting for a change, sailing into nuclear test zones quickly grew into a worldwide movement that confronted whalers, challenged governments, and redefined environmental protest.
These were decades when Greenpeace went all out, putting themselves in dangerous situations, threatening their lives everyday at sea and even enduring a deadly bombing to fight for what they believed in.
On land, music, poetry, and protest amplified their message, while they kept strategizing about their next steps and planning the next campaigns that would shook the world. These images capture the creativity, and courage that defined Greenpeace’s fight for the planet’s future.
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A Greenpeace activist presses his hand against the side of a massive whaling vessel, putting himself against industrial giants to stop the slaughter.
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Volunteers aboard the Sylvia braved rough waters on early Greenpeace voyages, sailing into nuclear test zones.
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Buttons like this spread the message and identity of Greenpeace as an activist force unafraid of direct action.
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A handful of Greenpeace activists stood between Soviet whaling ships and their prey, risking being crushed.
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Dressed theatrically as the god of the sea, activists sailed into rivers and seas to protest nuclear and chemical waste dumping.
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Ordinary volunteers learned navigation and seamanship to crew campaign ships. They weren’t trained mariners, but they went all out to become one.
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Musicians like the Grateful Dead performed aboard Greenpeace ships, helping fund campaigns and trying to turn the culture into activism.
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On land, supporters amplified Greenpeace’s sea actions. Public demonstrations like this kept pressure on governments.
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Greenpeace’s campaigns drew cultural icons like poet Allen Ginsberg, who was arrested alongside activists.
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Activists literally placed themselves in the killing zone, recording whales bleeding out in front of the steel bows of whaling ships.
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The movement’s daring actions were born in small, crowded rooms. And they went all out to build a global movement.
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This ship became a workhorse of Greenpeace’s campaigns in the 1980s, confronting whalers, sealing ships, and nuclear test zones across the globe.
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When French agents bombed Greenpeace’s flagship in Auckland Harbour, killing photographer Fernando Pereira, it showed the extreme lengths governments would go to stop Greenpeace.
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Whaling ships used high-pressure water jets to try to drive activists away. Still, Greenpeace pressed in close.
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After years of confrontations at sea, Greenpeace celebrated early successes in pushing for whale protections.
