Opinion by Al Gillespie, Annie Wheeler and Philip Tremewan
OBITUARY: Michael Frazier Donoghue. Born on February 8, 1949. Died on November 29, 2022
“Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more”. Shakespeare provided the mantra for Mike Donoghue as he launched into so many conservation battles over the last five decades.
It was well used.
Mike worked, andwon, through the formidable power of his advocacy, his scientific knowledge, his international networks, and the way he inspired his teams of collaborators.
Among many roles, he was the principal scientific adviser to our delegation to the International Whaling Commission.
Former commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer said: “Mike was a force of nature for the protection of whales.”
When Japan finally decided to end whaling in the Southern Ocean, Palmer concluded, “You have rendered your country great service. The leviathans of the deep owe you a great deal, especially your beloved humpback whales.”
The fluke from a humpback whale in Akaroa Harbour. Photo / Supplied, File
There were no medals for these achievements, but on his left shoulder, Mike sported a small tattoo of a humpback whale.
Mike was born and grew up in London. He completed a zoology degree at the University of London, followed by a diploma in teaching, and then a masters in oceanography at Southampton University. He married Kate in 1972 and they emigrated to New Zealand soon after.
They wanted to live a sustainable lifestyle, and armed with the Whole Earth Catalogue they headed for the Coromandel which has been their base virtually ever since. They had one son, Morgan, and two granddaughters.
This year Mike and Kate celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, their family, and the home they’d created on the rural edge of Coromandel township.
Mike joined the Department of Conservation in 1987, leading work on marine mammal policy and protection, including management of whale strandings and the efforts that led to the establishment of marine mammal sanctuaries in the Banks Peninsula and the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands.
Tohora, southern right whales in the Auckland Islands. Photo / Richard Robinson, File
Internationally, Mike played a leading role in the important IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas and the founding of the South Pacific Whale Consortium, which brought together marine scientists across the region.
Mike was at the forefront of many international conservation achievements relating to the moratorium on commercial whaling, stopping scientific whaling, establishing regional sanctuaries and measures ranging from bycatch to helping local communities develop sustainable and economically robust livelihoods.
He was at home throughout the Pacific.
He moved seamlessly between ethnicities, different economic sectors of society, and between generations.
His love of the ocean and the land, and the communities associated with them, made bonds everywhere. He never lost the vision of what he was trying to achieve, always staying true as a compass point on local, national and international conservation debates of what were the best conservation outcomes.
In battles that were often complicated, conducted over decades and full of tension, this was no easy achievement.
Working for a small country with limited money and power, Mike had to develop novel ways to achieve the conservation objectives he was tasked with.
As another former commissioner to the IWC, Sir Jim McLay, added, Mike was early to see that the IWC, although established to regulate commercial whaling, could be equally persuaded to conserve and protect the same whales; and then to recruit NGOs and later governments to that cause.
A Southern right whale glides in the waters off El Doradillo Beach, Patagonia, Argentina, during the annual whale migration from Antarctica toPatagonia to give birth and feed their offspring. Photo / , AP
Long before many others, long before it was fashionable, he gave substance to “Save the Whales” - and save them he did.
He did this magnificently.
He ensured that despite its limits, New Zealand had one of the loudest voices in international settings.
He did this in three ways. First, he wove together science, law, policy, and local communities to develop arguments that bypassed the bluntness of the opposition. Second, he used his charisma and ability to tell compelling stories, to create networks in which scientists, academics, civil servants, non-governmental organisations, and commercial enterprises, were pulled together, and pushed in the same direction.
Finally, he led by personal example.
He brought the qualities of a man who had perfected the arts of life.
He was stylish, epicurean in taste, generous of soul, sincere, earnest, and kind to all of those around him.
He knew the importance of marine conservation to people and the future of the planet, passing on his scientific knowledge, skills, and passion for the environment and all things oceanic to others.
He was a valued mentor to politicians, multiple environmental organisations, and young people. He had a deep love of his family, his friends and the world around him. In recent years, Mike worked for Conservation International and then Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) based in Samoa.
He worked with others across the region and with international funders to drive policy, strategy and investment in marine conservation and marine mammal protection.
Shortly before he retired from SPREP, he secured a multi-million dollar funding package from the European Union to tackle fisheries bycatch and other marine issues in the Pacific region.
From his lifestyle block of land in Coromandel, he continued to support work on fisheries bycatch, marine mammal protection, and research on the importance of whales in mitigating climate change impacts.
Closer to home, he continued to support efforts to stop the proposed mining of the Coromandel Peninsula and to protect the waters of the Hauraki Gulf. He loved his almost daily swims in the sea, and that was one of the last things he did on the morning he suffered a massive stroke.
Compiled by Al Gillespie, Annie Wheeler, and Philip Tremewan with support from Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Sir Jim McLay.
