His career could have continued to develop on this conventional path of academic honour had it not been for a spiny starfish
he and the physician John Barnes found on the reefs at Green Island near Cairns in 1964.This creature, the crown-of-thorns starfish, was venomous, hence their interest. It was also interesting in a
new way; it ate coral. In fact its numbers grew to plague proportions and, during the next months, ate most of the coral on Green Island.
Endean sounded the alarm and was asked to investigate by the
Queensland government. He reported in 1969 that plagues of the starfish had destroyed a large number of reefs in the Cairns region and the outbreaks were continuing to spread.
Reports of similar
outbreaks began to come in from other parts of the Pacific and there was tremendous interest in the media. Endean became a familiar figure on television, warming that the reef faced a crisis. The
Queensland and Commonwealth governments responded with an inquiry that reported in 1971 that the problem was greatly exaggerated.
Endean retaliated, rubbishing the report. The scene was set for an
often bitter David and Goliath struggle that continued until his death. The crisis triggered Australia's first mass environmental campaign and an outbreak of bright orange "Save the Barrier
Reef" bumper stickers on the nation's cars.
Governments responded to this growing environmentalism by establishing other committees and inquiries. These recommended against oil drilling on the
reef and that it be made a national park.
By 1975, both the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority had been established in Townsville as a direct response
to these pressures, even as the starfish outbreaks appeared to be dying away.
In 1979, the starfish outbreaks came back and proceeded, once more, to destroy many reefs, including those just recovering from
the previous outbreaks.
Another inquiry was convened that carefully reported in 1985 that perhaps, just maybe, there might be a problem.
The establishment's admission was too little, too late for Endean,
who had by then developed his arguments further. The outbreaks, he claimed, were man-induced, causing permanent degradation of the reef eco-system and large-scale efforts should be made to control them.
These claims were far too hot to handle by the establishment, which promptly parked them with another advisory committee.
The outbreaks ate themselves out during the next few years.
Now, as Endean
feared, another series of outbreaks is under way on the reef.
Endean, the private man, is survived by a daughter, Coralie, from his first marriage. The public man also leaves a legacy. In his
forthcoming book, What is Natural? Coral Reef Crisis (OUP 1998), eminent historian Jan Sapp argues that the crown-of-thorns was the first global environmental issue.
Without Endean, there may have
been no crisis. Without the crisis, the reef would not enjoy the institutional and legal safeguards it now has. While it is up to others to ensure this legacy is protected, Endean could say, with
that other outsider, the Moor of Venice: "I have done the State some service and they know't; No more of that."
ROGER BRADBURY
Roger Bradbury, one of Robert Endean's many former students, is the chief research scientist with the Bureau of Resources, Canberra.
