Often, we see images of the shallow ocean alongside calls for a moratorium on deep sea mining. The implicit message is that the deep ocean has a similar amount of life. While the lack of light or life in the deep sea makes pictures a relatively uninteresting complement to articles or fundraising appeals, this is like using a picture of the rainforest to illustrate the desert.
The deep ocean receives no sunlight, has no plant life (flora), and the vast majority of life is microscopic (e.g. bacteria). Every few kilometres or miles, megafauna (life bigger than 1cm) is present, but it is very rare. The deepest diving marine mammal is the Cuvier’s beaked whale, which can dive to a depth of nearly 3,000 meters (9,816 feet) according to Whale Scientists. This is well above depths of 4-6km (2.5 to 4 miles), where deep sea mining for nodules will occur. Our Eureka Collection System uses AI to avoid disturbing megafauna and is programmable to leave any percentage of the nodules undisturbed. The Eureka Collection System is initially set to leave 60% of the nodules undisturbed but can be adjusted to meet changing requirements.
Below are two videos of the actual seabed recorded with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
From the BGR (German) area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ)
From the Moana Minerals area of the Cook Islands EEZ
