Why China struggles as US plunges into deep-sea mining for valuable metals and rare earths South China Morning Post

Abyssal plains cover over half the ocean floor, usually between depths of 3,000 to 6,000 meters. Potato-sized polymetallic nodules litter the surface of the abyssal plain, formed over millions of years from metals such as iron, copper, cobalt, manganese and nickel precipitate from seawater. These nodules provide a mosaic of hard substrate for a variety of organisms such as corals and sponges, and support diverse deep-sea communities. Nodules also host a vast array of microbial communities that play a critical role in nutrient and carbon cycling.

Environmental impacts

• The same explanation may apply to deep-sea creatures like viperfish, dragonfish, and anglerfish.
• However, less than one percent of the seafloor has been examined in detail – e.g. with regard to the fauna living there.
• The deep-sea anglerfish lures prey straight to its mouth with a dangling bioluminescent barbel, lit by glowing bacteria.
• The name “cookie-cutter shark” refers to its feeding habit of gouging round plugs, as if cut out with a cookie cutter, out of larger animals.
• By 650 feet (200 m) all the light is gone to our eyes and the temperature has dropped dramatically.
• In this way, many jellyfish, but also some species of fish, squid, and other deep-sea fauna can emit a blue, green, or in some cases even red light.
• As the Trump administration works to fast-track deep-sea mining, a movement for a moratorium is building.

Data from these traps have shown that 815 million tons of carbon reaches the ocean floor every year. These layers of ocean ooze are important carbon sinks—drawing down the decomposing bits of carbon, laying them to rest on the seafloor, and finally burying them. For much of the deep ocean, food rains down from above in the form of marine snow. The term ‘marine snow’ is used for all sorts of things in the ocean that start at the top or middle layers of water and slowly drift to the seafloor. This mostly includes waste, such as dead and decomposing animals, poop, silt and other organic items washed into the sea from land. In the deep-sea food is scarce, but it is also a great place to hide in the dark away from hungry predators.
Since the establishment of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) in 1921, profound advancements in marine science have unveiled the deep ocean as a dynamic realm teeming with life. The common fangtooth, a tiny fish with a formidable bite, is found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters between 1600 and 6500 feet below the ocean’s surface. That’s as deep as a stack of 52 Statues of Liberty, including the pedestals. Species once thought extinct have been found alive (the coelacanth fish is one example). Still other species have yet to be found alive like the giant squid, arch. As technology improves, it will allow us to more closely observe deep-sea animals for longer periods of time and certainly teach us even more about the great and wonderful adaptations that have evolved in the world’s oceans.

A View of the Deep Sea

In fact, there are as many known species of deep-sea corals (also known as cold-water corals) as shallow-water species. Like shallow-water corals, deep-sea corals may exist as individual coral polyps, as diversely-shaped colonies containing many polyps of the same individual, and as reefs with many colonies made up of one or more species. They also serve as a habitat for deep sea creatures like sea stars and sharks. Unlike shallow-water corals, however, deep-sea corals don’t need sunlight.

Deep Sea

A range of human activities and climate change are putting species and ecosystems at risk before we fully understand, or even discover, them. Humans have seen just 0.001% of the deep sea, equal to the size of the smallest U.S. state, Rhode Island. Destroying this marine environment without adequately understanding it is a significant risk, scientists say.
For example, in the central Arctic Ocean, a research team including AWI staff was surprised to discover lush gardens of sponges growing on dormant underwater volcanoes. Many creatures that lived on the volcano millennia ago are now long gone – yet their remains linger. And thanks to symbiotic bacteria, the sponges can still put these relics of the past to use.

Help our ocean thrive

The president issued an executive order to bypass international law, directing U.S. officials to fast-track a process for companies looking to mine, including in international waters. Less than a week after the announcement, TMC submitted an application to the U.S. government to mine in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Any industrial activity cannot help but disrupt the quiet deep sea, scientists say.
Ocean depths greater than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) are completely devoid of light and photosynthesis does not take place. In addition, land ore mining will lead to a loss of 47 trillion megafauna organisms, whereas deep-sea mining is expected to lead to a loss of 3 trillion. Despite its importance, the deep sea faces significant threats, from deep-sea mining and overfishing to pollution and climate change. By protecting this fragile ecosystem, we’re preserving the life it holds, the climate it regulates, and the mysteries it continues to reveal. Each of these unique creatures embodies the resilience and adaptability of life, and their survival is essential to the health of our planet.

• Further investigation into these unique habitats showed that many of the other creatures that live by the vents also rely on symbiotic bacteria.
• This is the primary source of food for many animals that live on or near the surface.
• They make use of the meager resources that reach these depths, such as whale carcasses, fish excreta, and dead surface plankton blooms.
• Deep sea angler fish lure prey within reach by dangling their long lures as bait, and some have been known to swallow prey larger than themselves.
• Many advocacy organizations, scientists, and legal experts have criticized the the administration’s move.

Its relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it generally sits and waits for the prey such as deep-sea crustaceans, to come swimming close enough to eat. Diel vertical migrations aren’t the only type of movement between the shallows and deep. Tethered to a life at the surface because they require breathable oxygen, many large animals will make impressive dives to the deep sea in search of their favorite foods. Sperm whales, southern elephant seals, leatherback sea turtles, emperor penguins, and beaked whales are especially good divers. A Cuvier’s beaked whale is known to dive 9,816 feet (2,992 m) deep, and can stay down as long and 3 hours and 42 minutes, making it the deepest diving mammal in the world. A canyon acts like a funnel in the ocean, congregating decaying matter that originates from land down to the ocean depths.
Those species that gather near hot or cold springs pursue a different strategy. There you’ll find specially adapted microorganisms capable of extracting energy from the chemical compounds that the springs pump out into the water. In turn, many other organisms directly or indirectly live off of these bacteria, while others live in symbiosis with them. New life can spring from these deep-sea oases even after thousands of years.

Some creatures have adapted a way of life that takes advantage of both the plentiful surface waters and the safety of the deep. Scientists first Deep Sea learned of these symbiotic relationships through the study of the Riftia tubeworm. Upon first discovering hydrothermal communities in 1977, scientists were perplexed by the diversity and abundance of life. The worm’s blood red plumes filter the water and absorb both oxygen and hydrogen sulfide from the vents.
Supporters of deep-sea mining argue it could, in theory, take the pressure off land-based mining. But the first priority should be reducing demand for virgin materials and increasing metal recycling, Oceana’s scientists say — not seeking pristine new areas to exploit. “We see no evidence that deep-sea mining would replace land-based mining  — it seems more likely that it would only add to the overall pollution created by mining activities,” Bedolfe says. The same minerals found in the deep-sea are used for electric car batteries, wind turbine generators, and solar panels.