Located more than 200 metres deep in the ocean, the deep sea is the largest global biosphere (OceanCare, 2021), with about two-thirds of marine species living in this region having yet to be found (Appeltans et al., 2012).

Ranging from microorganisms to huge marine animals, deep-sea habitats teem with a wide variety of marine species (Miller et al., 2018). Due to their slow reproductive rates and extended lifespans, some of these underwater creatures are especially susceptible to anthropogenic noise disturbances, one of which being deep-sea mining activities (Roark et al., 2009). 

As a process involving the extraction of mineral deposits from the deep sea, deep-sea mining has become a mining method of growing interest due to the increasing demand for metals and diminishing supply of land deposits (International Union for Conservation of Nature, n.d.).

Currently conducted as an exploration assessment to evaluate mineral deposit sizes and their expanse in the deep sea, deep-sea mining has the potential to become exploited for commercial purposes, with 31 deep-sea exploration licences (extended to international waters) being issued out by the International Seabed Authority (OceanCare, 2021).

This has become a cause for concern due to the extensive and prolonged effects of underwater noise associated with deep-sea mining activities, which can endanger not only deep-sea marine life and biodiversity but those living closer to the upper surface of the water column (OceanCare, 2021). 

But how do deep-sea mining and its various components affect marine life along different sections of the water column?

Stay tuned to find out more in the next entry. Until then, stay safe and stay woke!🤔

 

References:

Appeltans, W., Ahyong, S. T., Anderson, G., Angel, M. V., Artois, T., Bailly, N., … & Costello, M. J. (2012). The magnitude of global marine species diversity. Current biology, 22(23), 2189-2202.

OceanCare (2021). Deep-Sea Mining: A noisy affair. Retrieved 26 February 2022, from https://www.oceancare.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/DeepSeaMining_a-noisy-affair_report_OceanCare_2021.pdf

Miller, K.A., Thompson, K.F., Johnston, P., Santillo, D. (2018). An Overview of Seabed Mining Including the Current State of Development, Environmental Impacts, and Knowledge Gaps. Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 4, Article 418.

Roark, E. B., Guilderson, T. P., Dunbar, R. B., Fallon, S. J., & Mucciarone, D. A. (2009). Extreme longevity in proteinaceous deep-sea corals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(13), 5204-5208.

International Union for Conservation of Nature. (n.d.). Deep-sea mining. Retrieved 26 February 2022, from https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/deep-sea-mining#:~:text=The%20scraping%20of%20the%20ocean,of%20ecosystem%20structure%20and%20function.