NOAA Ship Rainier, a 231-foot hydrographic survey vessel, departed from Honolulu on March 25 on a 60-day mission to map mineral-rich seabed deposits within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
The expedition, funded by a $12 million grant from the Department of the Interior, aims to identify concentrations of cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements critical for electric vehicle batteries and defense systems. While NOAA says the mission is purely scientific, conservation groups fear it is a precursor to deep-sea mining.
Both monuments are currently protected from mineral extraction under the Antiquities Act. However, the Trump administration has signaled interest in revising monument boundaries to allow resource development. A 2025 executive order directed the Interior Department to review all marine monuments designated since 1996.
Scientific or commercial?
NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad defended the mission: 'Understanding our mineral resources is essential for national security. This is basic research, not a mining permit.' But critics note that the mapping resolution being used is consistent with commercial exploration standards.
Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners have protested the mission, saying the monuments are sacred ancestral waters. 'You cannot commodify what is sacred,' said Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu.
Understanding our mineral resources is essential for national security. This is basic research, not a mining permit.
The expedition's data will be made public after one year, per NOAA policy. Meanwhile, the International Seabed Authority continues to develop mining codes for international waters, but U.S. marine monuments are under sole U.S. jurisdiction.
