Barbie-pink sea pigs, rattail fish, and a unicumber: these were the unexpected stars of a recent expedition into the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) where scientists are studying biodiversity. The region’s animal life is of particular interest because it’s also the proposed site of deep-sea mining, being home to a huge volume of “sea potatoes” that contain the precious metals we need for the green revolution.
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“We can assume that many of these species will be new to science,”
“All the specimens that have been collected will be brought back to the museum, where they will be identified and studied by the researchers here,” added
The team also spotted rattail fish, one of the few vertebrates that can survive at such great depths. The expedition journeyed 4,000-5,000 meters (13,000-16,000 feet) below the surface of the central Pacific as part of the
It’s a question of global interest due to the great fields of
“[Ninety] percent of the world’s exploration contracts for nodules are in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which represent less than half of 1 percent of the global seafloor,” The Metals Company PR and Media Manager
Deep-sea mining aims to harvest these nodules by scooping them up off the seabed and transporting them to the surface. The motivation to search for these resources on the seabed is that it represents a purer source that would produce less run-off compared to terrestrial mining. It likely also has less biomass per square meter compared to the forests of Indonesia, which is a leading site for mining.
“The distribution of these animals seemed to be quite patchy – the dominant sea cucumber on one ROV dive might be completely absent at another location, with a different one more common,” continued Drennan. “But in terms of density that we are used to, for example on land or shallower marine systems, the deep sea in general (and this area of the CCZ) is characterised by very low population densities, largely because food is so limited at these depths.”
“Therefore, even when we discuss a ‘dominant’ species, this is still at relatively low numbers. What will be important to understand is the presence of species over large spatial scales, and connectivity between populations across these large scales.”
Before we can start scooping up these precious potatoes, much research needs to be done to establish if disturbing the seabed and creating sediment plumes in this otherwise pristine environment could have a negative influence on the survival of wildlife and ecosystems. That’s one of the things SMARTEX – aka, Seabed Mining and Resilience to Experimental Impact – hopes to ascertain.