Check out the top stories from the deep, taken from coverage between 27 March-3 April 2023
Governments leave door open to deep sea mining starting this year
Source: Greenpeace International
Author: Elizabeth Claire Alberts
Member States to the International Seabed Authority met in Kingston, Jamaica from March 7–31 and failed to address the concerns of scientists around the impacts of this industry and to put a stop to deep-sea mining.
UN body mulls deep sea mining amid demand for minerals
Source: Phys.org
Author: Dánica Coto
The International Seabed Authority closed negotiations in March with growing calls for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
“Scientists worry that deep sea mining would disrupt critical ecosystems that regulate climate change, and a growing number of countries are siding with them, including France, Spain, Germany, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.”
Scientists find deepest fish ever recorded at 8,300 metres underwater near Japan
Source: the Guardian
Author: Donna Lu
An autonomous deep ocean vessel captured footage of a fish swimming more than 8km underwater – this is a new record for the deepest fish ever recorded. Click below to watch the footage of the animal, an unknown snailfish species filmed in the Izu-Ogasawara trench, south east of Japan.
Torrents of Antarctic meltwater are slowing the currents that drive our vital ocean ‘overturning’ – and threaten its collapse
Source: The Conversation
Authors: Matthew England, Adele Morrison, Andy Hogg, Quian Li, Steve Rintoul
New research shows projections of the slowing of the Antarctic overturning circulation of the deep ocean warming over the next few decades. This could have impacts such as depriving the deep ocean of oxygen, and limiting the return of nutrients back to the sea surface.
‘Ocean Is at Stake’ at International Seabed Authority Negotiations Over Deep-Sea Mining
Source: EcoWatch
Author: Olivia Rosane
“What we want to express is that we don’t view this as nobody’s land because it is part of our country,” Hawaiian Indigenous speaker and activist Solomon Kaho’ohalahala told EcoWatch. “This is where we have lived and thrived and have inhabited the largest area of ocean and islands on planet Earth.”
Activist Solomon Kaho’ohalahala, from Hawaii, spoke during the negotiations at the International Seabed Authority to offer a alternative vision on the relationship indigenous peoples have with the ocean and how their cultural heritage is directly related to the deep sea.