Two ships arrived in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific in March of last year.
One was a familiar sight: a massive cruise ship, bringing hundreds of tourists to the pristine shores of this nation of 15,000 people.
To Mr. Brown, the cruise ship represented his country’s troubling dependence on tourism.
He described the other vessel, owned by an international mining company, as a harbinger of incredible wealth.
The Cook Islands is at the vanguard of a quest to mine the ocean floor for minerals used in electric car batteries.
Persons:
Mark Brown, Brown
Organizations:
South Pacific
Locations:
Cook, South