Most are found near hydrothermal vents or in rock concretions known as polymetallic nodules that can be as big as a fist or as small as a fleck of skin. There is also thought to be a greater wealth of minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements such as yttrium, as well as substantial veins of gold, silver and platinum. Marine biologists believe there may be more bioluminescent creatures in the deep sea than there are species on land. First-time human visitors often go expecting darkness and return filled with wonder at the undersea displays of living fireworks. Biolumescent loosejaw and humpback blackdevils, a type of anglerfish, have evolved with in-built lanterns to seek out and draw in their prey. In the midnight, hadal and abyssal zones, fish and other creatures must make their own light. By one estimate, 90% of the species that researchers collect are new to science, including the pale “ghost” octopus that lays its eggs on sponge stalks anchored to manganese nodules or the single-celled, tennis-ball sized Xenophyophores. The deep ocean is the least known environment on Earth, a realm that still inspires awe and wonder. At that point, it says TMC’s subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), intends to apply for approval to begin mining in the Clarion-Clipperton zone, an expanse of the North Pacific between Hawaii and Mexico. By triggering the “two-year rule”, the island nation has in effect given regulators 24 months to finish the rulebook. Map showing location of the Clarion-Clipperton zone in Pacific But progress is slower than mining companies and their investors would like. The rulebook is being drawn up by the ISA, set up in 1994 by the United Nations to oversee sustainable seabed exploration for the benefit of all humanity. All they need now is a set of internationally agreed operating rules. They already have exploration permits for an expanse of international seabed as large as France and Germany combined, an area that is likely to expand rapidly. If the world wants to decarbonise and reach net-zero emissions by 2050, they say we must start extracting the resources for car batteries and wind turbines soon. They say the minerals – copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese – are essential for a green transition. Mining companies also insist on urgency – to start exploration. We need an urgent deep-sea mining moratorium to protect the oceans.”
“They simply cannot allow these reckless companies to rush headlong into a race to the bottom, where little-known ecosystems will be ploughed up for profit, and the risks and liabilities will be pushed on to small island nations. “This is now a test of governments who claim to want to protect the oceans,” she said. Given the potential risks of fisheries disturbance, water contamination, sound pollution and habitat destruction for dumbo octopuses, sea pangolins and other species, she says no new licences should be approved. Louisa Casson, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace International, says the two-year deadline is “really dangerous”. A dumbo octopus, just one of millions of barely understood deep-sea species at risk from mining.