‘Gold rush’ threatens deep sea secrets

A file photo of a carnivorous sponge, ‘Axoniderma mexicana’, photographed in the NE Pacific abyss and found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. — AFP

IN the cold, lightless Pacific Ocean deep, the seabed is scattered with metal-rich rocks coveted by miners, and huge numbers of strange and rare animals almost entirely unknown to science.

Researchers are scrambling to name thousands of these newly discovered species.