Dr Diva Amon, marine biologist, researches the habitats and animals of the deep ocean, and how human activities impact them. She has participated in expeditions around the world and is a consultant on ocean policy. She is a founding member and director of the TT NGO SpeSeas and a scientific advisor at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at University of California, Santa Barbara. This is the first part of a two-part feature, adapted from an article published on the World Economic Forum’s The Agenda on July 21 2022.

"By Hercules! In the sea and in the ocean, vast as it is, there exists nothing that is unknown to us, and, a truly marvelous fact, it is with those things which nature has concealed in the deep that we are the best acquainted!" Pliny the Elder, 40 AD. Pliny then proceeded to list just 176 species. Two thousand years later, we’re only just beginning to realise his statement was not only incorrect, but it echoed the contented ignorance of the time.

Estimates now suggest that a significant proportion of Earth’s biodiversity, around one million species, resides in the ocean, with the majority still undiscovered in the deep sea. Although we know more than we ever have about the deep sea, despite centuries of research, our knowledge of these mysterious depths remains sparse.

[caption id="attachment_1003558" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A deep-sea squat lobster sitting on a deep-sea coral (Madrepora oculata). -[/caption]

Time and time again, as we explore and study the deep sea, we are met by species, habitats, and ways of life that are beyond our imaginations. From hydrothermal vents gushing super-hot black fluid to giant glass sponges thought to be thousands of years old, and animals that communicate via flashes, pulses, and glows.

The deep sea plays a vital role in Earth's health

This richness and diversity of organisms in the deep sea support ecosystem processes necessary for the Earth’s natural systems to function. The deep ocean also constitutes more than 90 per cent of all the living space on the planet and plays a key role in services such as climate regulation, fisheries production, and elemental cycling. It is an integral part of the culture and well-being of local communities and the seafloor forms part of the world’s Common Heritage, which belongs to everyone on the planet and everyone yet to come.

The more we, marine scientists, learn about the complexity and importance of life in the deep ocean, the more we realize the great peril it faces. Deep-sea ecosystems are under stress from a number of human stressors, including climate change, destructive bottom trawling and pollution. And new threats loom on the horizon. Deep-sea mining, a new industry that may be given the green light to begin operating as early as 2023, will add to these stresses. It could result in the loss of deep-sea biodiversity and disruptions of ecosystem functioning and services that could last millennia or even be permanent.

The risks of deep-sea mining are not fully understood

To compound these concerns