Readers probably know by now I am skeptical of Nautilus Mining's commitment to the conservation of the deep ocean. They are currently poised to begin large-scale mining efforts with a bus-sized ROV off extinct hydrothermal vent chimneys off Papua New Guinea. This week 2000 tribe members from Bagabag Island urged the government to put end to exploration and mining on the seabed in a paid advertisement in the national paper. In the piece they voiced
their frustrations and absolute disgust over the manner in which the provincial and national governments have issued license to Nautilus Minerals Corporation Ltd to conduct deep sea mining activities near Bagabag Island and in the surrounding outer islands in the province...Mr. Daing and Rev. Kinim said Nautilus has no experience in sea bed mining and therefore do not want to see their ocean as a training ground for this company.
Sea Turtle Restoration Project has the full story and
hosts the advertisement as a pdf.
Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Comments
Mautilus currently is licensed to do seabed exploration. It's findings can lead into seeking license from the PNG government to do seabed mining. It argues that it is doing its activities well away from traditional fishing grounds and has low environmental impact. We strongly rebut this and urge Nautilus to fund an independent consultant(s) to do a risk assessment of the Bismark Seas in Papua New Guinea, prior, during and after its exploration activities. We have had enough learned experiences from irreparrable environmental, social, physical,and other related damages caused through land based mines in PNG and do not want this to be another playground for mining companies to experiment their mining methodologies for their own profit.
Posted by: wenceslaus magun | July 15, 2007 5:29 PM