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In 2013, a deep-sea mining firm named UK Seabed Sources contracted marine biologist Diva Amon and different scientists from the College of Hawaii at Manoa to survey a bit of the seafloor within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an enormous swath of worldwide waters situated within the Pacific Ocean that spans round 2 million sq. miles between Hawaii and Mexico.
The realm is understood to have an considerable provide of rocky deposits the dimensions of potatoes referred to as polymetallic nodules. They’re wealthy in metals like nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese, which have traditionally been used to make batteries and electrical autos.
Sometime, the corporate envisioned it’d revenue from mining them. However first it needed to know extra in regards to the largely unexplored abyssal atmosphere the place they have been discovered, Amon mentioned.
Utilizing a remotely operated automobile outfitted with cameras and lights, she started documenting life 2.5 miles deep.
On one of many robotic’s first dives, an anemone-like creature with 8-foot-long billowing tentacles appeared about two ft above the seabed. It was hooked up to the stem of a sea sponge anchored on one of many beneficial nodules.
Amon was overwhelmed with pleasure. It was seemingly a brand new species, she mentioned. She additionally felt a way of grief. “Right here was this extremely stunning animal,” she mentioned, “that nobody has seemingly ever seen earlier than.” And they won’t ever once more. “I really feel this immense disappointment on the potential that this place that we’ve come to survey could also be mined and primarily destroyed sooner or later,” she remembers considering at that second.
Now, greater than a decade later, Amon worries her fears could also be coming to fruition.
“The subsequent gold rush”
On April 24, President Trump signed an executive order selling deep-sea mining within the US and worldwide waters, touting the trade’s potential to spice up the nation’s financial progress and nationwide safety.
“These assets are key to strengthening our financial system, securing our power future, and lowering dependence on overseas suppliers for essential minerals,” the order states.
In a web based publish final month, the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described the political transfer as a step in the direction of paving the best way for “The Subsequent Gold Rush,” stating: “Vital minerals are utilized in every part from protection techniques and batteries to smartphones and medical units. Entry to those minerals is a key issue within the well being and resilience of US provide chains.”