For the last decade, next-generation batteries have been the motivating force for the deep-sea mining industry. The electrification of the world’s vehicle fleets to wean society off of fossil fuels has created huge demands for cobalt, nickel, and other metals necessary for high-density batteries. The demand has placed the green revolution in a position where […]
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Since the signing of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the creation of the International Seabed Authority, the United States of America has been a shadow partner in the growing deep-sea mining industry. Though the United States provides scientific and technical expertise, and is a de facto participant through American-owned subsidiaries […]
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Sometimes marine scientific studies are deep explorations into the fundamental processes that underpin ecosystem function, yielding critical insights into management and mitigation in the face of anthropogenic impacts. And sometimes marine scientific studies answer basic questions that many stakeholders and practitioners wouldn’t even think to ask. Questions like: Can you distract a clam? In “Are […]
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After a multiple-month delay in response to the global pandemic, the International Seabed Authority is set to convene the second part of the 26th Session in Kingston Jamaica this December. While the format of the December meeting has not yet been announced, a previous postponement from July to October had the meeting substantially abridged compared […]
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This has been a strange summer for the online discussion of deep-sea mining. On one hand, there has been an exceptionally high volume of posts about the emerging industry, clustered around the release of several major critical articles in the popular media. On the other hand, due to the relative dearth of major new developments […]
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Although the political negotiations surrounding the establishment of a Mining Code are frequently the driving factor in the development and advancement of the deep-sea mining industry, the technology necessary to actually access the seafloor and recover ore from the deep ocean presents just as many challenges. The rules of the International Seabed Authority even provide […]
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When you live in the darkness of the abyss, finding a partner is hard and keeping a partner is even harder. Deep-sea anglerfish, one of the iconic ambassador species of the deep ocean, have found a novel solution to this problem–dwarf males are sexual parasites that latch onto the body of the much larger female […]
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The demand for cobalt to power a carbon-free future has been a core narrative as the deep-sea mining industry has grown over the last decade. Cobalt is a relatively rare ore whose terrestrial extraction has been rife with humans rights issues and environmental harm. Accessing a reliable supply of cobalt that could not only satisfy […]
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For over 50 years, deep-ocean explorers have been able to claim that more people have walked on the moon than have dived to the deepest point on the Earth. Only two men descended into Challenger Deep in the 20th century–Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard–they were joined in the early 2010s by director James Cameron. Earlier […]
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Not all scientific research begins with specific intent. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, as ocean scientists embarked on an ambitious plan to understand the potential impacts of deep-sea mining by simulating the disturbance caused by removing polymetallic nodules from the seafloor, they inadvertently seeded an entirely different experiment, which would ultimately provide insight […]
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