Our Ocean
Our Life Source
Our ocean supports all life on Earth - it creates half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs a third of our carbon emissions, and regulates our climate.
But the ocean is more than Earth's life-support system - it's part of who we are. It's our kai basket, our playground, where we find peace and connection. When the ocean thrives, so do we.
That's why we're fighting to protect it from seabed mining.
Our waters are already under pressure from pollution, climate change, and destructive fishing. Adding seabed mining could push vulnerable ecosystems past their breaking point.
KASM works to stop seabed mining before it starts because future generations deserve a healthy, thriving ocean.
The web of life
From microscopic plankton to giant pygmy blue whales, everything in the ocean is connected through what scientists call a food web.
Seabed mining would hit this web at every level, triggering a domino effect of damage. Sediment plumes could smother plankton, cutting off the food supply for krill. Without krill, fish, seabirds, and whales go hungry. Noise could drive away whales and dolphins. The impacts of seabed mining would cascade through the entire ecosystem.
Special Places
Aotearoa’s ocean is full of extraordinary places and two stand out for their rich biodiversity and global significance.
The South Taranaki Bight
The South Taranaki Bight is a productive upwelling zone where cold water flows up from the deep, bringing nutrients that fuel krill blooms - the tiny crustaceans that are the favourite food of our pygmy blues. Thanks to this high primary productivity, this area has one of the highest recorded diversities of marine mammals anywhere in the world, with over 35 species found here. From breeding fur seals, migrating humpbacks, occasional Mäui dolphins, our own unique population of Pygmy Blue Whales to many, many others: it's one of the most amazing marine mammal hotspots in Aotearoa!
This area is internationally recognised as an Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) but has little formal protection under New Zealand law.
Closer to the seafloor, Project Reef, a community science programme led by local divers, kaitiaki and scientists, has revealed patchy rocky reefs and sponge gardens in parts of the Bight.
These habitats shelter fish and invertebrates and help anchor the wider food web.
Protecting the STB means safeguarding whales at the surface and the hidden communities below.
The Chatham Rise
Running east from just off Banks Peninsula near Christchurch all the way to the Chatham Islands, the Chatham Rise is a vast underwater plateau where upwelling currents bring nutrients to the surface and supercharge productivity. These plankton blooms feed fish, seabirds and whales and support some of Aotearoa’s most valuable commercial fisheries, including hoki and orange roughy.
The Chatham Rise is one of Aotearoa’s most productive offshore areas, making it vital to both marine ecosystems and the economy.
It is also home to slow-growing deep-sea corals and sponges that can take centuries to recover if damaged - a reminder of just how carefully we must treat this powerhouse of life.
Too precious to mine
The ocean has sustained us for generations. We need to protect our moana that is so full of life - not let mining companies rip it up for short-term profits.
Join the stand against seabed mining
The impacts of seabed mining threaten life at every level, from plankton support the food chain to the whales that call South Taranaki Bight home. But not on our watch!
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