Oregon Public Broadcasting

In 1990, the research ship Aloha set off to explore the sea bed off the coast of Gold Beach on the South Coast. The trip was meant to determine whether there were commercially valuable deposits of minerals, including gold, platinum and titanium, off the coast. Unexpectedly, Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior and a flotilla of local fishermen surrounded the boat to protest offshore mining. The expedition failed to find significant mineral deposits.