I’m back on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise now, but earlier today I leapt from a Greenpeace boat into the sea, and swam in front of a giant deep sea mining research vessel to protest this new threat to the moana.
Together with my friend Quack Pirihi who joined us on this voyage, we swam out to confront them with a simple message: Don’t mine the moana!
Soon after we swam, our shipmate Samantha leapt from another boat and climbed onto the side of the vessel. SO brave.
The ship has just returned from a seven-week “research” voyage paving the way for the deep sea mining industry to begin carving up the ocean floor. And get this, it’s named after the most notorious coloniser of the Pacific: James Cook!
That’s a cruel insult as we see this new extractive industry poised to set in motion a new cycle of colonial exploitation, threatening more harm to the Pacific and its people.
Greedy deep sea mining corporations like The Metals Company aim to send monster robotic machines down to the deep sea floor to mine mineral deposits from that dark and fragile world.
We need to stop it before it starts.
Earlier this week, an investigation released by Fauna Flora International found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.
And all this takes place as delegates from world governments continue to debate at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Jamaica whether or not this destructive industry will get a greenlight this year.
Please share this story and sign the petition if you haven’t already.
For too long, Pacific peoples have been excluded from decisions that impact our territories and waters. If governments don’t stop this industry from starting, the darkest days of history will repeat. We reject a future with deep sea mining.
Deep sea mining must not begin. There is too much at stake for our planet and communities.
World leaders just agreed to a historic Global Ocean Treaty. We must use this momentum going into next week’s deep sea mining negotiations to push more governments to come out against deep sea mining & hold world leaders accountable for ocean protection!
Thank you for your support.
There are no words to describe what it means to us as indigenous people to confront the industry, and this name head first, and we couldn’t have done it without you behind us.
For the moana,
James Hita
It’s time for New Zealand to take a stand. Join our call on the New Zealand government to back a global moratorium on seabed mining.