The problems with deep-sea mining

We stand to lose far more than we could possibly gain by mining the deep seabed. Life-saving pharmaceuticals and unique organisms are not the only things at stake from this untested, risky experiment (“Race to the bottom”, May 3rd).

As recently as one year ago, scientists on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s philanthropic research vessel, Falkor (too), deployed a new technology, the mTail, or miniature trace analyser in situ logger, to search for oxygen in areas of the ocean where scientists haven’t detected any before. The device detected a surprising amount of oxygen, a discovery that has implications for how these areas of the ocean help regulate our planet’s greenhouse gases.

The ocean is critical to human existence, and the deep sea is unlikely to recover from mining on human time scales. Battery innovation is leapfrogging. Researchers are already pursuing more sustainable types of batteries that require no seabed minerals. Cries to mine the deep sea sound as archaic as “drill, baby, drill.” Indeed, no one has dared drill since the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 because the costs and risks are so great, and the equipment to do it is exceedingly expensive and complex.

And we have barely begun to explore the possibilities of reusing, repurposing and recycling batteries, which studies have shown could significantly reduce the amount of mining we need to do. Or better yet, think of the idea that we would be better served not by bigger or more electric cars but by effective, accessible transit systems.

The international community has the opportunity to agree to a moratorium on deep-sea mining, as 33 countries and counting are advocating before the international body that actually has legal jurisdiction on this issue, and which is gathering this summer to consider it. Let’s ensure that decisions about the ocean are made with an eye to the future rather than a backslide toward our extractive and destructive past.

Wendy Schmidt
President and Co-Founder
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Schmidt Family Foundation
Santa Barbara, California