Obituary – Diana Rigg

We were sorry to learn of the death of the British actress Dame Diana Rigg DBE on 10 September, 2020. Dame Diana was previously a GCT Ambassador, and is remembered by Richard Webb who was a trustee at the time. “Diana was a lovely person, and was so enthusiastic in her support of GCT, always enjoying meeting and chatting to supporters about Galapagos. She was an enthusiastic Ambassador.”

In 2002, Dame Diana narrated a Radio 4 appeal for us on the marine environment. How poignant that her death comes at a time when the the Galapagos Marine Reserve is so strongly in the public eye due to the international fishing fleets just outside its Exclusive Economic Zone. In her 2002 appeal Dame Diana said, “Shark numbers are dropping, many mutilated alive for their fins before being thrown back into the water to die.  Populations of some sea creatures have already been decimated, and many more are in danger of extinction.” At that time she was talking about illegal fishing in the Galapagos Marine Reserve by local people. 18 years later we have a similar problem still occurring, but now outside of the protected waters of Galapagos, and caused by legal, but unsustainable fishing by a huge number of industrial fishing boats. We are continuing our fight to get more waters protected, as Dame Diana once fought on the Islands’ behalf.  Our thoughts and wishes go out to Dame Diana’s family and all those who loved her.