In New Zealand, a Warrior Lives On By Ryan J. Donmoyer and Robin N. Sylvester The Washington Post Sunday, May 2, 1999; Page E02

Once the flagship of the environmental group Greenpeace, the 400-ton Rainbow Warrior became the martyr of the antinuclear movement when it was bombed in Auckland's Waitemata Harbor on July 10, 1985. At the time, the ship was being prepared for a journey to Tahiti to protest French nuclear testing. The French had other ideas, and sent a team of secret agents to sabotage the protest. A Greenpeace photographer died in the midnight explosion. Two French agents were caught and spent two years "imprisoned" on Hao atoll in French Polynesia.

The incident catapulted New Zealand--a longtime, if obscure, ally of the West--onto the international stage. The country banned ships carrying nuclear weapons from its waters, much to the chagrin of the United States.

Two years after the bombing, New Zealand towed the wreck out of the busy Auckland port to its current site, near the uninhabited Cavalli Islands. Diving operators made a beeline to the wreck, now marked by a single buoy and overlooked by a memorial perched on nearby Matauri Bay Hill. These days, with the Cold War a memory, the wreck is more popular than ever.

In the water, divers submerge in groups of four or five. Underwater, light prisms splinter down from the surface as if through stained glass. By 50 feet the surface is no longer visible but the water isn't clear enough to see the sunken ship below. In this limbo the bubbles of other divers are the only things affirming one is alive. At 60 feet all sound is muffled and murky, the sea's heartbeat.

On the ocean floor, the wreck materializes like a ghost. Novice and experienced divers alike abandon the anchor line to follow the dive master to the hull. Graceful jewel anemones undulate gently along the hull in the underwater current, their soft pink and yellow fingers fluttering from orange and green "palms." These creatures usually prefer warmer waters, but for reasons unknown they have covered the entire ship.

The divers circle the boat and swim toward the upright bow, passing over the top to the foredeck, to peer inside the vessel. The dive guide shines her light into the darkness below, giving her charges a peek inside. A million eyes stare back. They belong to aptly named Big Eye fish, which hover in all directions. Swimming at times upside-down, and with eyes about a third the size of the rest of their bodies, the Big Eyes are at once startling and comical. One particular fish the size of a hand is completely inverted, oblivious of the intruders, who chuckle from behind their dive masks.

Terri Coltier, the dive guide, gestures toward her gauges. It is time to ascend. Swimming off the deck and up over the top of the ship, the divers head back toward the anchor line. They group together and signal each other to ascend, stealing glances back at the peaceful warrior, her color and shape fading into the texture of the water. Gradually, sunlight permeates the depths, but it does not compare with the brilliance of the rainbow below.

Several companies charter dive tours of the Rainbow Warrior, operating out of Whangaroa and Pahia in the Bay of Islands. We used Pahia Dive and Fishing on Williams Road (011-64-9-402-7551). The full-day trip cost about $80, including two dives and full gear. Non-diving passengers can go along and snorkel for about $30. The Rainbow Warrior's legacy can also be seen on land in nearby Dargaville, where the masts are displayed in front of the Harding Park & Maritime Museum.