Trump Fast-Tracks Deep-Sea Mining, Endangering a Still-Unexplored Ocean World

Mining companies are turning their attention to the deep sea, where precious metals such as nickel and cobalt can be found in potato-size nodules sitting on the ocean floor.

Deep-sea mining research and experiments over the past 40 years have shown how the removal of nodules can put seafloor creatures at risk by disrupting their habitats.

But the process can also pose a danger to what lives above it, in the midwater ecosystem.

Plumes might interfere with visual cues essential for bioluminescent organisms and visual predators.

Disturbances like these have the potential to disrupt ecosystems, extending far beyond the discharge depth.

Declines in zooplankton populations can harm fish and other marine animal populations that rely on them for food.