DDTeaEXPERT REACTION: Decades of deep sea mining research shows threat to seafloor creatures
"The deep sea is full of life. These habitats seem extreme to us, but life has survived, thrived, and diversified here for billions of years. Many of these lives are conducted across time scales that we have trouble imagining—some microbes may divide only once every thousand years. Some fish live for centuries. Abrupt disturbances are rare, and deep-sea life has evolved within these stable conditions.
"Enter deep-sea mining (DSM): catastrophically destructive to the immediate seafloor, and producing noise, vibrations, clouds of sediment, and other impacts that we cannot yet fully predict. The effects of large-scale DSM are likely to be substantial, longer lasting, and more complex than we can anticipate.
"This study summarises our current state of knowledge on the known and likely impacts of DSM on the communities of animals living in habitats where DSM is being considered or explored. It also considers the risk of extinctions and biodiversity loss (key considerations for international agreements on managing Earth’s biodiversity) that DSM may carry for different targeted habitats including abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, and seamounts.
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