Meritorious Service Cross

• Awarded on: March 18, 2020
• Invested on: May 07, 2024

Terris “Mackie” Greene, M.S.C.
Joseph Michael Howlett, M.S.C. (posthumous)
Wilson’s Beach, New Brunswick

Mackie Greene and the late Joe Howlett founded the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, a specially trained, volunteer-based organization that disentangles whales from fishing gear in the waters of Atlantic Canada. Untangling distressed creatures up to 20 metres long and 70 tonnes in weight is extremely dangerous; on July 10, 2017, Joe lost his life when he was crushed by the flukes of a whale he had just freed. Mackie and the rest of the team continue the work he was passionate about, dedicating themselves to the conservation of threatened and endangered marine mammals.