Mark Costello   It is with great sadness that I convey the news that Dr Bill Ballantine has died. He was the first and longest serving Director of Leigh Marine Laboratory. He contributed significantly to the creation of the (New Zealand) Marine Reserves Act and establishment of New Zealand’s first marine reserve at Leigh. He became world famous for championing marine reserves, and continued to do so vigorously in his ‘retirement’. He was a great mentor and a dear friend for many students and colleagues who will miss him greatly.

He was delighted at the recent announcement that New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands EEZ would become a marine reserve. It is 15% of the New Zealand EEZ.

More information will be available at this webpage http://www.marine-reserves.org.nz/index.html

Keith Hiscock   Bill’s work remains an inspiration to the world of marine biodiversity conservation and his straight talking got many a bureaucrat out of their cosy ‘can’t do it’ hole. His legacy is enormous and is preserved in a paper that he published a year ago describing 50 years of marine conservation in New Zealand:

Ballantine, W. J. 2014. Fifty years on: Lessons from marine reserves in New Zealand and principles for a worldwide network. Biological Conservation 176,  297-307.