Despite what you may think, the ocean floor is not entirely made up of sand. At the very bottom of the ocean, you may find various minerals that you would often find on land, too. An early discovery was made in 1868 when a dredging ship managed to pull iron ore off the coast of Russia. Since then, oceanographers have managed to identify more minerals, such as copper, nickel, silver, platinum, gold, and even gemstones, which, understandably, has attracted mining companies.
Following a significant depletion of certain metals on land, discovering these same metals in the sea would be a straightforward solution to the problem. According to IUCN, deep-sea mining focuses on seabeds below 200 meters, covering approximately 65% of the Earth’s surface. If there is one thing that humanity has proven to be good at, it is exploitation.
To prevent the exploitation of these minerals, the United Nations has tasked the International Seabed Authority (ISA) with overseeing deep-sea mining. However, they are not aiming to prevent the mining but rather minimize damage by designating which locations will be permitted for extraction and locations that will not. The reason for such determination in mining? According to The Atlantic, the seabed may “contain more valuable minerals than all the continents combined.”
The immense volume of minerals is undoubtedly a victory until it has been revealed that mining for these materials also releases dangerous toxins. When mining, dredging ships would collect mass amounts of sediments and bring it to the surface. They separate the metallic objects, otherwise referred to as polymetallic nodules, before releasing the remaining mass back into the water. However, the collected sediments may contain mercury and lead; being released back into the water, they are capable of poisoning nearby ecosystems. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, dredging ships release about 2 million cubic feet of slurry on average every day. If this continues, it may result in a severe loss of life, as animals may not be able to cope with the impact.
The slurry that ships are dumping may travel as far as 62 miles from the point of release, though it may achieve greater distances. The effect is worsened if ships choose to release the discharge closer to the surface, as the ocean drift may cause it to travel great lengths before eventually settling – Greenpeace has estimated that this waste may be able to travel “hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.”
Biologists and oceanographers still struggle to project the full extent of damage that deep-sea mining could cause due to the limited information we have regarding life near the bottom of the ocean. However, due to this limited information, many experts are urging the ISA to place stricter regulations on mining. Of the deep-sea creatures, many are endemic, which means they do not exist in other places on Earth. Deep-sea mining threatens their very existence by damaging their ecosystems – we could potentially be eradicating entire species without even knowing they exist.
Since deep-sea mining yields numerous minerals, many people have claimed that deep-sea mining is the solution to climate change – that the resources needed for developing and producing renewable energy can be found in abundance under the sea. For example, many electric vehicles rely on cobalt for their batteries, which are plentiful on the seabed. However, environmentalists believe that by mining, the ships may disrupt natural carbon processes by releasing the stored carbon back into the ocean, thus worsening climate change.
What’s there to do now? The first step in preventing further damage to our environment, research on marine life should be prioritized. Before interfering with ecosystems, we must first be able to understand the ecosystem in order to assess damages properly. Following these stepping stones, organizations such as the ISA and Greenpeace may begin the mitigation process to protect our ocean wildlife while imposing strict regulations to protect and uphold these processes. Until then, let us stick to mining on land.
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