Earthtrust (ET) is a non-governmentalenvironmental organization based on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Earthtrust was founded by in 1976 by Don White, a founding member and former international campaign director of Greenpeace International who has directed the organization since its inception.[1][2] Focusing mostly on marine conservation, Earthtrust is responsible for the largest conservation victory in history by biomass due to its critical role in exposing, documenting, and ending large-scale high seas driftnetting.[3][4] Earthtrust has been involved in many high-profile advocacy actions; notably the pioneering use of genetic analysis to demonstrate the prevalence of pirate whaling,[5] the first scientific demonstration of self-awareness[6][7][8] in a non-primate at its Delphis lab,[9][10] creation of the first international seafood environmental accreditation standard (Flipper Seal of Approval[11]), binding the world's largest tuna firm (StarKist) contractually to its tuna-acquisition criteria,[12][13] and being the first to take charge[14] of the environmental disaster left by the retreating Iraqi army in the Gulf War.[15] The organization was designed to have a high funding efficiency and effectiveness, showcasing the methodologies of "effectivism" and "system steering" as alternatives to standard activism, by preferentially taking on what would otherwise be considered "impossible missions".[16]
^Marten, K.; Psarakos, S. (June 1995). "Using self-view television to distinguish between self-examination and social behavior in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)". Consciousness and Cognition. 4 (2): 205–224. doi:10.1006/ccog.1995.1026. ISSN1053-8100. PMID8521259. S2CID44372881.
^Marten, Kenneth; Psarakos, Suchi (May 1994), "Evidence of self-awareness in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)", Self-awareness in animals and humans, Cambridge University Press, pp. 361–379, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511565526.026, ISBN9780511565526