Source: Oceans Deeply
Author: Ian Evans
Oceans Deeply talks with experts about seabed mining: how it could impact rare ecosystems, how much scientists know about the deep sea and the challenges of regulating industrial activity on the ocean floor.
In the latest episode of Deeply Talks, Todd Woody, News Deeply’s executive editor for environment, speaks with Conn Nugent, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts’ seabed mining project, Kristina Gjerde, a senior high seas adviser at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Matthew Gianni, cofounder of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, about recent steps to regulate seabed mining and what impact excavating the ocean floor could have on unique deep-sea ecosystems and marine life.
The ocean floor is vast and largely unexplored, but it contains deposits of valuable minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel and rare-earth minerals that are essential for modern electronics. However, most of the seabed lies in international waters, an area governed by the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority. Now, said Nugent, nations such as China, Japan and Russia are interested in harvesting those minerals, as are corporations like Lockheed Martin.
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