Ben White, 53 year-old arborist, animal protector and political organizer, was hospitalized March 29th at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. An operation on Thursday revealed widespread abdominal tumors. It appears to be a type of cancer that does not invade organs. Upon his return to Friday Harbor this week, Ben will be treated with aggressive chemotherapy and hormone therapy. His spirit is strong, his confidence is high and he expects a full recovery. Ben White has lived on San Juan Island since 1995. He has a son, Ben, who is a freshman at Friday Harbor High School, and a daughter, Julia, who graduated last year from Spring Street School. A renowned animal protector for nearly thirty years, Ben specializes in marine mammal and forest protection. As a consultant to the Animal Welfare Institute, he organized the peaceful marching turtles brigade at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and the marching dolphin brigade at the 2003 WTO meeting in Cancun. He is also AWI's representative at annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission and the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. As a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he battled the Canadian seal hunt and pirate whaling operations. To stop Naval sonar testing over humpback breeding grounds in Hawaii, he placed himself in the waters for exhausting weeks as a human shield between the whales and the ships. In January 2005 Ben traveled to Mexico to organize local resistance to the seismic activities of the Research Vessel Maurice Ewing in the rich fishing grounds off the Yucatan Peninsula. He wrote about the onset of his present illness in his Yucatan Diary, a daily journal about his organizing effort that was carried in the online version of the Journal of the San Juans and the San Juan Islander. After returning from that effort, while his illness worsened, Ben began preparation for an upcoming effort at the United Nations by animal protection groups to put the use of intense underwater sound on the global agenda.

Locally, Ben created Natural Guard Tree Care, a group of young arborists who maintain and preserve island trees. In 2004 he was the Green Party candidate for County Commissioner. During his campaign he pledged that if elected he would return 20% of his salary to the San Juan Island School district. His platform was uncompromising in its insistence on environmental preservation as the only way to maintain island sustainability. Ben's medical bills will likely reach $100,000. He has no medical insurance. Anyone wishing to help this courageous "voice for the voiceless" is encouraged to donate to the Ben White Medical Relief Fund at Islanders Bank. No donation is too small.

Islanders Bank
225 Blair Ave.
P.O. Box 909
Friday Harbor, WA 98250-0909
(360) 378 2265. (800) 843 5441
mybank@islandersbank.com