Manu Bay, we paddled out.
Not to perform
but to protect.
Wāhine toa, tāne, tamariki
bodies in the water, steady, hearts anchored.
This is what resistance looks like.
They say we’re emotional.
We are.
Because we understand what’s at stake. 🌊
Seabed mining risks destroying ecosystems that feed and sustain us.
The sediment, the noise, the disruption
it doesn’t just disturb the ocean floor.
It sends shockwaves through entire food chains. Through whānau. Through generations.
They say we’re uninformed.
We’re not.
We’ve been listening to marine scientists, fisheries experts, and environmental researchers for over two decades.
We’ve been watching this same proposal resurface again and again…..
this time from TTR (Trans-Tasman Resources), a company planning to:
• Rip 50 million tonnes a year from the seabed and dump it back as sludge,
wiping out kelp forests, nurseries, sponge beds.
• Use a 350-tonne crawler to tear through ecosystems like it’s no one’s backyard.
• Push a project that’s already been shut down by courts multiple times due to lack of environmental protection.
Now, they’re trying to force it through again
fast-tracked, bypassing proper process, consent, and community voice.
We’re not new to this.
We’ve resisted this same threat in different forms for 20 years.
It keeps coming back
and so do we.
Because this isn’t just environmental.
It’s embodied.
When the ocean suffers, we feel it in our bodies, our nervous systems, our whakapapa.
This is personal.
This is protection.
We paddle, not for performance
but to hold the line for what matters:
our moana, our future, and our right to say no.
This isn’t just a paddle out.
It’s a stand.
For our moana.
For our mokopuna.
For the right to feel safe, connected, and sovereign, on land and in water.
Not in our waters.
Not in our wairua.
Not in the rhythm we come from and return to.
#BanSeabedMining
#ProtectOurMoana
#ManuBay
#Kaitiakitanga
#ScienceAndSoul
#EmbodiedResistance
#20YearsStrong
Cover photo
@jwanmilek 
