| NOAA is about to decide whether or not to move towards deep sea mining that could demolish this Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). Tell NOAA: Don’t allow deep sea mining. Sitting on the seafloor are thousands of potato-sized nodules made of metals that act as anchors for sensitive sea life. Now mining companies want to vacuum up those nodules, which could kill everything that lives on them.3 And it’s not just life on the seafloor that’s in danger. The clicks of dolphins and songs of whales could be drowned out by underwater mining equipment. The area where The Metals Company wants to take the first steps towards deep sea mining is home to whales and dolphins. Extremely sensitive to noise, endangered sperm whales wouldn’t be able to communicate with each other with the deafening sounds of underwater mining happening 24 hours a day.4,5Deep sea mining would also stir up gigantic plumes of sediment that could spread for thousands of kilometers in every direction — and we don’t even know the full extent of the impact that could have on our oceans.6Destroying marine life in the remote depths of the ocean can’t be undone, and we don’t need to mine the deep sea in the first place. Don’t let deep sea mining tear apart our oceans. Add your name. Visiting the deep sea is like traveling to another galaxy, but it’s right here on our very own planet. Thousands upon thousands of mysterious sea creatures are waiting in the depths, and have mostly been undisturbed by humans.Tearing up the sea floor with deep sea mining would leave scars that we could never repair. Thousands of unknown species could be snuffed out before we ever meet them. Decades later, deep sea mining tests have left behind a wasteland at the bottom of the ocean. Allowing The Metals Company to begin deep sea mining in the Pacific Ocean could permanently damage not just the mining sites themselves, but ocean ecosystems for miles, far in the deep and all the way up to the surface.7Make your public comment for our oceans before the Feb. 23 deadline. Thank you, 1. “Scientists Explore Biodiversity of Poorly Known Deep-sea Areas Targeted for Seafloor Mining,” NOAA Ocean Exploration, July 11, 2018. |
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