Workers disembark from a research vessel in San Diego in 2021 after investigating the effects of deep sea mining on the ocean environment. — Los Angeles Times/TNS
MINING the deep oceans for cobalt, nickel, rare earths and other metals could accelerate the world’s conversion to renewable power sources. These minerals are hard to obtain on land, where mining has also created hazards for communities and workers, but can be found in abundance right on top of the ocean floor.
The problem is that the bottom of the sea isn’t one uniform environment but has its own mountains and valleys and unique ecosystems, some of them unexplored. The areas with all the minerals are among the most mysterious. They’re also rich with weird life forms – lobster-sized shrimp and transparent fish, alien-looking anemones, and sea urchins that seem to gallop across the seafloor.
