Fifty years ago, an ad-hoc group of environmentalists gathered around living rooms and kitchen tables in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood with a shared goal of stopping the United States from testing nuclear weapons off the western coast of Alaska.

They decided to sail a leaky, 24-metre-long halibut fishing boat directly toward the blast zone as a form of protest.

The ship was ultimately forced back, but the move drew international attention. Nuclear testing in the area ended months later.

Today, the group with small beginnings in Vancouver has grown into one of the most recognizable environmental organizations in the world. Greenpeace has a presence in more than 55