Avarua, Rarotonga, Holding a banner reading “Don’t Mine the Moana” Cook Islands activists confronted an exploration vessel as it returned to Rarotonga port today, peacefully protesting the emerging threat of deep sea mining.
Four activists in kayaks paddled alongside the Nautilus, which has spent the last three weeks on a US-funded research expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities, who have consistently supported the development of deep sea mining.[1] Two of the three deep sea mining exploration licences in the Cook Islands’ waters are held by US companies.[2]
