Comments on: MINING AT DEEP-SEA VENTS: WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS ON MARINE LIFE?

By: Allan Walker

Allan Walker — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 18:07:02 +0000

Thank you for the very informative blog. I am another student on the “Exploring the Oceans course.
I do not know much about the international controls on the ocean outside the 200 mile limit of territorial waters.
My thinking is that the biggest brake on Klondyke type mining enterprises is the huge capitol cost which must be involved which investors would not want to see at the mercy of changing international control. That said as Professor Roberts has reminded us the present technology which helps us move on from carbon burning for power does require the metals which might be found at the ocean bed.
Licences issued from an international authority to develope mining in a controled manner on the back-arc fields should be positively considered.
Also consideration should be given, area by area, to licences to investigate with a view to developement of some mining of the inactive vents. I have understood that these are not easy to find but perhaps the taste of potential profit will find a way. If not leave for a later time.

By: SONYA BIETH

SONYA BIETH — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 22:31:40 +0000

I don’t see why we would go after small vents and cause so much irreparable damage. Hopefully popele will look at the big picture and not just money.

By: SAMS - Marine College

SAMS - Marine College — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 13:17:09 +0000

This post seems to be very useful for Marine students, keep posting info like this. How to subscribe your blog? Need regular updates to my e mail ? respond back to this.

By: Lee Scott

Lee Scott — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 11:31:44 +0000

As a mature student and therefore an ‘outsider’ from the oceanographic community, I feel a sense of helplessness at decisions being made, notionally in my name, which I have no effective power to influence or gainsay. I am currently studying ‘Exploring our Oceans’ on the UK’s Open University’s FutureLearn platform. Harvesting the riches of the Oceans is all well and good if it can be done without causing irreparable damage, but I regard mining around hydrothermal vent fields as being so potentially calamitous, both for the animals around the vents and more widely, that such exploitation should be put on hold until a through area impact assessment is undertaken.

By: Drive to Mine the Deep Sea Raises Concerns Over Impacts | Papua New Guinea Mine Watch

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 00:32:16 +0000

[…] and Jonathan Copley, a prominent marine ecologist at Britain’s University of Southampton, has said that the project’s design appears to be environmentally sensitive. Yet Nautilus and other […]

By: Mohd. Khawli

Mohd. Khawli — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 11:39:08 +0000

Just like other natural niches & ecosystems that humans have destroyed, the deep ocean vents environments are unique… regardless whether they extend along the mid ocean ridges or otherwise.
Once human exploitation begins, it will lead to local destruction, & this further leads to bigger circles of degradation till unforeseen limits & negative consequences (with no way of return) are reached.
The simple rule is: So long as there’s an inch on Earth that we don’t fully understand, or we don’t know how to control, & we cannot keep PRODUCTIVE… it should be left to future generations. I prefer humans look out for resources on other planets !!!!

By: Alessandro Saccà

Alessandro Saccà — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:11:51 +0000

It seems that, besides the mentioned issues, mining vents along slow-spreading ridges should not be so attractive, because they do not regenerate quickly enough to be repeatedly exploited (not renewable in the short term). I thus suggest leaving them untouched and focusing on fast-growing “island-arc” vent fields paying attention to creating adequate “reserves” within the same field. In this regard, I think that a great deal of research is required in order to prevent not only species extinction, but also other genetic effects, e.g. those deriving from recolonization by relatively few individuals, such as the “founder effect”.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 09:49:17 +0000

Clear and informative article, thank you!
Once again, we are left with that sense of powerlessness in face of the actions of the ‘big guys’, the states and corporations that help themselves to the bounty of natural resources provided by our planet.
I look forward to your next post and the implications of international laws on deep-sea vent mining.

By: Joanne C

Joanne C — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 11:06:44 +0000

Very enjoyable reading – makes it abundantly clear, even to a non-scientist like me. Interesting that vent exploration/exploitation is that much more advanced in the W Pacific…

By: Jonathan Norgate

Jonathan Norgate — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 20:42:49 +0000

Thanks, Jonathan, a real eye opener. It is amazing how quickly exploitation is going to take place after such recent greater understanding of vents. It is tragic that you are now talking about minimising damage and the potential for mass extinction before the opportunity to research potential for new, exciting drugs, etc.