The environmental oil leak disaster in Chuuk Lagoon is under control, according to a press release from the Chuuk Governor’s office. “On behalf of Chuuk’s Environmental Protection Agency’s diligent work, and with the help from donor partners, the oil leak has stopped. They’ve put a special tank that helps catch the oil leaking from the (Rio de Janeiro Maru),” the press release stated in Chuukese. Chuuk Gov. Alexander R. Narruhn further said he’d like to say thank you to everyone involved on behalf of the “Narruhn-William Administration and the entire Chuuk Leadership.”
There is a lot that has been written already in newspapers and magazines about this man-made disaster involving a Japanese Rio de Janeiro Maru shipwrecked off the coast of Uman, in Chuuk Lagoon… all of which gave us, the readers, a glimpse into this environmental emergency from a non-Chuukese-point-of-view. But, what about the Chuukese point of view?
The ones whose ecosystem this oil spill has damaged; whose food security’s threatened—do the Chuukese understand the impact of the leak into their ecosystems and their food source?
An AI overview explains that the ecosystem as “a community where living organisms (plants, animals, microbes) interact with each other and their non-living physical surroundings (water, soil, air, sunlight) as a functional unit, characterized by energy flow and nutrient cycling. These interconnected systems vary greatly in size, from a puddle to a forest, and involve complex relationships where all parts are interdependent, forming the basic unit of ecological study.”
Oil leaks, according to the internet, are nothing new in the Chuuk Lagoon. There have been other oil spills before, so the possibility of more leaks in the future is extremely high. Considering it’s a whole fleet of World War II warships down there. As an author, Candice Landau, of a dive magazine puts it—it’s “the wreck diving capital of the world,” a truth that resulted from an American Operation Hailstone in February of 1944. One that Mar-Vic Cagurangan of the Pacific Island Times said was “a destructive three-day U.S. attack that sank over 50 Japanese warships and supply ships.”
Former Chuuk Gov Johnson Elimo (July 2011-April 2021) said there was also an oil leak during his time. Yet, there was still another, which preceded Elimo.
Peter Aten, head of the State Historic Preservation Office of the Chuuk State, said in a March 2025 article at Marianas Business Journal that “the first reported leak from one of the ships was in 2007. Since then we have been trying to monitor other leaks.” Aten’s office has been working with partners prior to the Rio de Janeiro event to identify and get all the oil out of the ships before they rupture. But, as we can see now from the disaster at hand, they couldn’t prevent everything.
Kazunori Fukuyama, an employee of the Japan Marine Action Services based in Chuuk, said in the Julian Ryall piece at MBJ that their objectives have been:
- Recover oil
- Monitor ships if to see if near collapsing
- Train and educate Chuuk government employees to continue the work when their gone
“What we are doing will not resolve all the problems. We are doing as much as we can with what we have,” Fukuyama said.
Translation: They’re doing their best with limited resources.
Guam resident Jayleen Choun from the island of Fefen in Chuuk, who used to manage a dive shop at Okura hotel, remembers an incident involving relatives doing a home made video of oil in the water. “My cousins were out in their outriggers,” she recalls with a smile. “They were paddling around filming these oil droplets dancing their way up from the ocean floor.” They panned the shot from one pitiful face to another, she said. Then came the appeal for her to send some food home, or they’ll soon die of hunger because of the oil leak. “Please, send us some rice!”
It was hilarious, at the time, they begged into the camera, she said. But, now, it’s not anymore. Especially when realizing there might be oil all over Chuuk Lagoon with the many ships down there, if something is not done sooner than later.
Chuuk Lagoon is one of the biggest of its kind in the world, if not the biggest. And, so there are reportedly 60-plus ships sunk in the lagoon. Those have been converted into fish habitat, and are just teeming with marine wildlife. It is comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island, which is about 1,545 square miles, with a diameter of about 40 miles and an area of 822 square miles (2,129 sq km). It is one of the largest atoll lagoons in the world, just slightly smaller than Kwajalein Atoll (838 sq miles or 2,170 sq km, and 85 miles in diameter).
CHUUKESE POINT OF VIEW
The Chuuk Lagoon underwater ecosystem has been threatened by a leak from one of the WWII wrecks. The oil bubbling out of that ship had washed up ashore on the island of Uman, causing the shorelines and lands to be inundated by the slick substance.
So, in our story, we are going to attempt to understand the implications of such a disaster from the Chuukese way of thinking, their point-of-view.
Deep down, what do these Chuukese really care about when faced with toxic oil leaking into their ecosystems and their environment?
How can we prevent other underwater wrecks from doing the same damage?
How can we get the U.S. and the Japanese governments to rectify the problem they’ve created over 80 years ago to the full extent possible… and not just a band-aid solution?
We get a hint of the importance of water and land in the eyes of the Chuukese from another update, where Gov. Narruhn said in Chuukese: “There is still a possibility of this leak affecting our ecosystem, food security in the water, underwater, on our shorelines and on land as well. It behooves us all (people, agencies and governments) to work together to solve our problems regarding this.”
Food security, underwater and land are key words here.
Confirmation came from the director of Chuuk Visitors Bureau, Marcellus Akapito, whose office monitors the activities around the dive spots regularly: “Fortunately for the Rio event, the spread has been contained and I believe the leaking is drastically slowing down.”
Narruhn also said he’d told the Federated States of Micronesia government as well as key “international partners.” President of the FSM, Wesley W. Simina, in turn told the world in a speech to the United Nations as well.
Chuuk EPA did not respond to our inquiry, despite numerous email attempts.
In a 1993 Chuuk court decision, https://fsmlaw.org, “all reefs, tidelands, and other submerged lands” are legally and morally belonging to Chuukese. “Rights to these tidelands, reef, and other submerged lands have always been regarded as privately owned and controlled.”
In a November 1999 MicSem Publication, Micronesian Counselor, author Francis X. Hezel S.J., said in Land: Is It Time For a Change in Direction?, that “the family was rooted in the land, and that’s where its future lay. It was the source of livelihood when people depended upon the land for food, housing, medicine and everything else. Land, incidentally, should also be understood to include the offshore flats (nönöö) and reef or fishing areas.”
It should be noted, too, that when a Chuukese is set adrift in his thoughts to their land or water, it is always because it’s their livelihood. Either they are thinking about their plantations or fishing for family and relatives, their village, or fishing for their island— in the case of the much smaller islands.
The understanding, further, is to imply that whatever leaked into their waters and land and killed the tiniest animals, has essentially leaked into their living rooms, causing great harm not only to individuals, but also their families. So, food for their children, and children’s children, in the land and those that come from the water become the major source of worry.
Now, for the average Chuukese, the notion of the ecosystem per se, may be a little puzzling. But, he knows the underwater area very well. He has practically lived there since childhood. And although he doesn’t understand much of how oil destroys that habitat, he needs to be warned that fish and animals—seen or unseen with the naked eye—in that ecology may die due to oil poisoning.
Chuukese do understand organisms dying-off because of oil poisoning underwater, as with rats eating chemical substances causing their deaths on land.
While the ecosystem is a unit of the environment that many Chuukese may or may not understand, the environment itself is essentially what you can see, hear and touch around you.
So, they know that oil leaking into their underwater ecosystems — under the water, in the water, on the shorelines and the land — is a serious problem. Those are Chuukese’s most guarded treasures. They’re aware that if they spill oil in, and around those precious resources, that would mean the death of life in those areas as we know it.
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IMPACT: A potential future Pacific regional crisis
The impact of the spill on the underwater ecosystem is almost paralyzing to the Chuukese, because it destroys life! Life that is already there, or soon-to-be.
Where there is destruction of life underwater, there is also the death of planktons in the water to feed the baitfish; which in turn fail to feed the tuna.
And when daddy comes home without the tuna fish, it impacts the family greatly.
Also, according to a Pacific Daily News article by Uriah Aguon, Salvation Army Guam gives food aid to Chuuk after oil spill from WWII-era vessel, tainting freshwater supply, the water sources were already contaminated on some of the islands, rendering them undrinkable. He also reported some Chuukese deaths were confirmed as related to the oil spill.
“The spill has so far not spread further than Uman and Fefen, as well as some barrier islands with no permanent residents but are used for farming, fishing, and hunting,” Aguon also reported.
Aten said this could cripple the Chuukese economy with their income depending heavily on the fish population, as well as their food; with an estimated 30 millions of gallons of oil it would quickly escalate into a Pacific regional crisis— reaching “as far up to Guam and as far away as Papua New Guinea.”
“We hope that the world will help us because the local people did not ask for these ships to be sunk here, or for the war to come here,” Aten also said in the article. “This was literally dumped in our oceans and the people here now depend on that ocean for their survival.”
CONCLUSION: A long-term commitment from the U.S. and Japan to extract all oil from the 60+ ships
In this internet and social media age, influencers are called upon—those that are Chuukese, Micronesian, those from this Pacific region and their friends—to keep posting and asking their followers to cut-and-paste their original posts, demanding that the U.S. and Japan—and the world—do their part in fighting against this environmental crisis— not just band-aid solutions.
Although part of the Japanese government has been on the ground in Chuuk to extract oil from the bellies of the WWII ships; thus, eliminating a little bit of this very problem, it is not nearly enough. Both the U.S. and the Japanese governments need to form something akin to a joint task force, and deal directly with the situation.
Those same influencers can also pressure the US Embassy in Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM), which maybe has very little.
“I think the general public needs to understand and help call for action,” said Akapito, “and support in technical areas in terms of the need to extract the oil contents from ALL the wrecks. Our top notch leaders have taken the call on the issue to big forums such as the (United Nations General Assembly) and the Pacific Islands Forum. But, the common people need to be concerned and show action, demanding over the internet, on social media, or through organized civil action with clear purpose.”
Akapito has seen “a few videos, calling for action by the world community, some of whom are the originators of ‘the mess,’ oil leak. There has been some response, specifically from Japan, undertaking extraction work the past 5 years or more. JMAS has been in Chuuk over the course of over 5 years doing that work. But they need help also. So, I think that was the purpose of declaring the State of Emergency, to trigger support from FSM Partners.”
The pen is mightier, so influencers can become relentless in bombarding targeted areas of the Internet with images and stories, appealing to the world community, to the leaders of the regional and the Chuukese people.
Use the mainstream media as well as the independent media to write more stories, appealing to the international community, forcing the hands of the U.S. and Japan to do a joint task force to extract oil until it is gone from all 60-plus ships with a long term commitment.
That’s the only way!
A final story: The yellowfin tuna tasted of oil and gasoline
Colby Killirho was squatting across from his cousin during dinner. He reached for their yellowfin tuna (toku) and took a bite.
It tasted strange!
He quickly realized it had the flavor of oil and gasoline. And, at first, he thought nothing of it. He was way clear away from the oil leak from Chuuk Lagoon’s Rio de Janeiro Maru shipwreck found back in September 2025.
“It’s just one fish,” he said to himself. But soon, he was thinking about the long-term impact of the disaster: “What if it’s fish after fish after fish… sooner or later they all start tasting like this. And, eventually, they die because of oil poisoning.”
And couldn’t the oil poison humans directly, too, he thought.
Now, it is not just the fish that can be affected but other wildlife, too, and humans, as well. Not to say that it will happen, but Chuuk Lagoon will definitely pay over time.
“Our lagoon is our lifeline. We must act quickly to contain this threat and safeguard the future of our people,” said Gov. Narruhn in an article, Oil is leaking from Chuuk Lagoon’s Rio de Janeiro Maru shipwrecked.
Killirho is a deep-blue water skin diver, without the SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) equipment. But he had been a certified diver for years on Guam, some in Chuuk, Nëöuë; and a little—but mainly back to skin diver—on his home island of Houk. Even his younger brother, Filemino Killicho, also was certified since high school in the ‘80s. He also had dived Rio de Janeiro Maru.
“Today,” Killirho said to himself, “it’s the taste of the fish that is ruined—a mainstay of the subsistence for the economy of Chuuk. Tomorrow it might be the fish themselves. Poisoned!”
Such is the threat that an oil leak poses for Chuuk. The consequences on the ecosystem are beyond valuation.
