Guam leaders are urging residents to speak up now on federal plans that could open the door to deep sea mining near Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Thursday night, the community gathered to learn how to push back -and why the ocean is too important to risk.

For master canoe navigator Larry Raigetal, protecting the ocean means protecting indigenous practices passed down for thousands of years.  "It reminds me of like digging up ancestral grounds and messing around with things that are of sacred spaces from the point of view of traditional navigation, which I’m part of," he shared.

Raigetal says traditional wayfinding depends on a healthy ocean, connections that existed long before modern borders or federal jurisdictions. He added, "We needed to be able to traverse these waters, and we have been for thousands of years. There are resources in the water, from marine life, that are aids to our navigation, critical to wayfinding." His voice and perspective are just one of many speaking out in hopes to put a stop to federal plans for deep sea mining. 

At the Guam Museum on Thursday, a community workshop was hosted by Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio. The event aimed to help residents draft public comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which wants to open more than 35 million acres of waters near Guam and the CNMI for mineral extraction under Presdent Donald Trump's directive.

Advocates warn the deep ocean remains largely unknown.  Dr. Austin Shelton said, "The fact is that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do know about the deep sea in our backyard."

Deep-sea ecologist Dr. Jeffrey Drazen from the University of Hawaii at Manoa said mining impacts would extend far beyond the seafloor, explaining, "It is possible that with the collector plumes, the area of impact over 15 years goes up to about 15,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of the country Costa Rica."

Drazen also raised concerns about the safety of seafood relied on by island communities. "We are concerned about the possibility of the toxification of seafood we eat," Dr. Drazen continued.

Legal experts told attendees this is a critical moment in the federal process. Blue Ocean Law attorney Julian Aguon urged residents not to wait, saying, "You don’t need to think about this as some future-tense thing that is going to happen and ultimately worry about it later when the lease sale gets approved by BOEM. No, we need to worry about it right now. Every single person can make a comment…whether you care about sea turtles and all the other species that are going to be smothered by sediment plumes, noise pollution, light pollution."

Governor Leon Guerrero said Guam’s opposition is shared across the Pacific, saying, "I’ll tell you, we’re not alone. American Samoa is united with us. CNMI is united with us. And of course, if you look at the South Pacific islands, 40 countries are against seabed mining."

That unity critical as she notes Guam, as an unincorporated United States territory, has limited control over its surrounding waters. "It’s very key that we speak in one voice. We here in Guam, we are not an island sovereign nation," she said. "We don’t have control of our waters."

And Tenorio said that makes public participation essential, noting, "We’re living in a very disruptive time. This is the most challenging time that I would say the American nation and the people of Guam have been confronted with because there is a radical change in the leadership of the country that is focused on harvesting resources to feed commercial interests. That’s really the essence of what’s going on here."

"Our ocean is not for sale. And we have this responsibility, living in 2026, to do whatever we can to fight to protect this for everyone after us."

For Raigetal, the science only confirms what navigators have always known. "My message to the federal government," he stated, "is just leave it alone."

The deadline to submit public comments to BOEM is January 12 - next Monday.  If you care about the ocean, you’re urged to speak up now before it’s too late