As the Canadian-born co-founder of Greenpeace International, Mr. [David McTaggart] routinely became involved in truly globe-girdling causes saving the whales, ending nuclear testing, protecting Antarctica from oil and mineral exploitation, stopping the dumping of nuclear waste in the world's oceans.

Credited with taking Greenpeace from its Canadian roots and merging it with a motley collection of independent Greenpeace organizations in Europe, Mr. McTaggart stickhandled the growth of the organization, from a dozen original Canadian members with a small sailing vessel to an international activist group with operations around the world.

Mr. McTaggart rechristened his 12.6-metre sailing sloop, dubbed it Greenpeace III and set sail for the remote atoll of Mururoa in the South Pacific, determined to foil the French tests by camping out at Ground Zero.