Deep Sea Mining? How About No?

By Marc W. Polite

Good evening, my readers. Readers of my social media posts and this blog have recognized that lately, I have been talking about science. Whether it’s about space, web technology, or oceanography, I have found myself reading up on it in my spare time.

In my ongoing research, I come across developments that sound farfetched. Most likely as a result of my searching for these sort of things, I come across an article talking about companies and nations that want to conduct deep sea mining. Yup.. you read that right. There are organizations that want to mine the ocean floor for precious metals and other resources. Think more gold rush and less exploration. More treasure quest, not SeaQuest.

Now, given how things turned out with the makeshift submersible about two weeks ago, this sounds like a horrible idea. The surface world that we have access to is being ruined with climate change, and now billionaires want to exploit the ocean floor too? No wonder the orcas are wilding out. It’s damn near self defense for oceanic life at this point.

It’s early in these discussions, but I would like to add my voice to those going on record to say that this is a bad idea. Pollution of the ocean floor through mining could not possibly have any negative impact on the oceans ecosystem. Nope. Not at all. As safe as off shore drilling is.. right? (Sarcasm alert)

Maybe.. just maybe.. leave the ocean alone. Just a thought.