Deep Sea Mining: We’ve Run Out of Land to Strip, So Industry Is Going 6,000 Meters Down to Mine Habitats That Took 10 Million Years to Form. 92% of the Species Down There Will Be Extinct Before They’re Even Discovered.
Posted by crix_22@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 19 comments
crix_22@reddit (OP)
Best Case, Worst Case & Consensus
🟢 Best-Case (Industry View)
Isolated Damage: Sediment plumes and habitat destruction stay strictly contained to targeted seabed tracks.
Low-Impact Tech: Silent, dark vacuum tools gather nodules without blinding or deafening marine life.
Green Energy Boost: Cobalt and nickel from the seabed accelerate the EV transition, replacing carbon-heavy land mining.
🔴 Worst-Case (Eco-Collapse)
Mass Extinction Cascade: Strip-mining erases thousands of unstudied species. The Natural History Museum estimates 88-92% of life in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is still undescribed by science.
Fishery Collapse: Midwater sediment plumes drift for miles, choking zooplankton and disrupting the mesopelagic food web that feeds Pacific tuna fisheries.
Climate Feedback Loop: Disturbing 10-million-year-old seabed sediments releases trapped carbon, breaking the ocean’s deepest natural climate buffer.
🟡 The Consensus (Where Science Stands)
Irreversible Harm: Test mining tracks show 40% decline in seafloor species abundance, with no observed recovery in studies running 25+ years (Natural History Museum)
No Baseline Data: 80% of the seabed remains unmapped. Scientists cannot model plume dispersion or extinction risk without it.
Geopolitical Split: 40 nations have called for a moratorium. The US never signed UNCLOS and is fast-tracking permits via NOAA. Japan launched its first EEZ mining test in January 2026.
solaris_rex@reddit
Won't the sea life be affected by oceanic warming and disruption in nutrient cycling anyway?
crix_22@reddit (OP)
It’s a good point but 4,000 feet down it is somewhat insulated from atmospheric warming, wouldn’t you agree? It’s one of the few stable biomes left. That is industry’s argument.
There is one other problem with the argument. We don’t even know what we don’t know.
solaris_rex@reddit
The mixing of the deep and surface usually when both the waters are at a similar density. As the surface ocean warns there will be a strong pycnocline , density based separation, that keeps the two waters from mixing. This prevents upwelling of nutrients from the depth and nourishing the algae population on the surface.
The stronger the ocean temperature the longer the gradient is likely to last.
I'm not sure how deep this affects or if the absence of such cycling affects the deep ocean ecosystem.
BobsBurgersJoint@reddit
Ai response
crix_22@reddit (OP)
crix_22@reddit (OP)
to make matters worse, he bankrupted his old company called Nautilus Minerals Inc.
https://oceanminingintel.com/news/industry/nautilus-seeks-financial-protection/
redditmodsRrussians@reddit
Underwater intensifies
bermpan@reddit
All around seems like just a wonderful idea.
I really wish I didn't have to use /s in this sub, but it's 2026.
crix_22@reddit (OP)
Here is the ceo of the metals company
bermpan@reddit
Wait no fucking way.
Without doxxing myself, I have family in Australia (specifically an Uncle) with a rather significant net worth. He's personally told me about this guy a few times when talking about "the c___s I just can't stand in this country", and has said that he's one of the most selfish and unethical people he's ever had the misfortune of doing business with.
crix_22@reddit (OP)
he doesn't even deny the ecological damage. He paid for part of this stufy
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/#:\~:text=Clarification%3A%20This%20study%2C%20as%20well,(NORI)
Jovan_Knight005@reddit
Of course that it's someone that is connected with the current American presidential administration (i.e. Donald Trump's administration).
crix_22@reddit (OP)
I didn’t want to get political but ….
Practical_Hippo6289@reddit
I'll take "How could we possibly manage to make things even worse?" for 1000, Alex...
Jovan_Knight005@reddit
People always find a way to make their life worse. Not to mention ruin the environment and planet that they're living on.
crix_22@reddit (OP)
Don’t be so pessimistic - we can always make things worse 👍🫣
kingtacticool@reddit
geo-engineering has entered the chat
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/crix_22:
Best Case, Worst Case & Consensus
🟢 Best-Case (Industry View)
Isolated Damage: Sediment plumes and habitat destruction stay strictly contained to targeted seabed tracks.
Low-Impact Tech: Silent, dark vacuum tools gather nodules without blinding or deafening marine life.
Green Energy Boost: Cobalt and nickel from the seabed accelerate the EV transition, replacing carbon-heavy land mining.
🔴 Worst-Case (Eco-Collapse)
—
Mass Extinction Cascade: Strip-mining erases thousands of unstudied species. The Natural History Museum estimates 88-92% of life in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is still undescribed by science.
Fishery Collapse: Midwater sediment plumes drift for miles, choking zooplankton and disrupting the mesopelagic food web that feeds Pacific tuna fisheries.
Climate Feedback Loop: Disturbing 10-million-year-old seabed sediments releases trapped carbon, breaking the ocean’s deepest natural climate buffer. —
🟡 The Consensus (Where Science Stands)
—
Irreversible Harm: Test mining tracks show 40% decline in seafloor species abundance, with no observed recovery in studies running 25+ years (Natural History Museum)
No Baseline Data: 80% of the seabed remains unmapped. Scientists cannot model plume dispersion or extinction risk without it.
Geopolitical Split: 40 nations have called for a moratorium. The US never signed UNCLOS and is fast-tracking permits via NOAA. Japan launched its first EEZ mining test in January 2026.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1tf8wm2/deep_sea_mining_weve_run_out_of_land_to_strip_so/om7uock/