Experts warn ongoing crisis at bottom of Pacific Ocean could be a direct threat to thousands of animals: 'One of the largest … studies ever'

Researchers measured significant ecosystem damage resulting from deep-sea mining. 

What's happening?

Experts at the Natural History Museum detected a 32% drop in deep-sea biodiversity following extensive observation. Researchers took soil samples from the Pacific's Clarion-Clipperton Zone over the course of five years. They took three samples before mining activities and one sample two months after a mining test. 

"Being able to study these remote and poorly-known deep-sea regions is a huge privilege, and also extremely important as we consider the potential impacts of deep-sea mining," said NHM report author Eva Stewart. "These samples are very hard to collect and most of the species are unknown, meaning this is one of the largest abyssal studies ever to identify the species of every animal we collected."

The team identified 788 distinct species in its samples, including worms, molluscs, and crustaceans. In addition to the 32% decline in the number of species found following mining activities, the report said there were also 37% fewer animals found overall. 

Why is deep-sea mining important?

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is a hotspot for deep-sea mining interest due to the presence of critical mineral nodules along the ocean floor. These can contain copper, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, which are vital to electrifying transportation and grid energy with high-capacity batteries. This decarbonization can, in turn, reduce pollution and stabilize destructive weather patterns. 

However, harvesting nodules from the CCZ requires machinery that can easily disrupt a highly sensitive wildlife habitat. Even with minimal disturbance, the nodules play vital habitat roles for the specialized animals that live in this abyss. Since much of the wildlife in this area remains a mystery, their disappearance could have unforeseen side effects. 

"One critical gap is the knowledge of where species exist elsewhere," said NHM researcher Adrian Glover. "We don't know what organisms live in the protected regions. This makes it very hard to model the extinction risk for the mining zones if we don't know what's living in the protected areas and the degree of connectivity between the mined areas and the protected zones."

Other researchers have signaled that the plumes of sediment caused by mining could disrupt wildlife at higher elevations, such as chimaeras, rays, and sharks. 

What's being done about deep-sea mining?

Improved recycling facilities employing efficient technologies may provide a less disruptive source of these important metals.  

In the meantime, the CCZ is regulated by the International Seabed Authority, which has marked over 760,000 square miles of the area as environmentally protected.  

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