If you were to point to a random point in the deep ocean, we likely would need more information to start mining there. However, the areas proposed for deep sea mining are some of the best-explored areas of abyssal plains in the world. In international waters, at least three years of environmental baseline information must be collected, characterizing biodiversity and the ecosystem, the physical and chemical characteristics of the water and sediment, and their interactions. Some exploration permit holders have been doing baseline studies for over 20 years! For more on this topic, check out our blog, “Data from the Deep Seabed – What Do We Know?”
