Scientists have mapped more of Mars…
…than the ocean floor on Earth
It’s very cold
There’s no light at all
There’s crushing pressures
So how can life exist there?
And yet it does in great abundance
In the past 20 years deep-sea explorers and marine biologists…
…have discovered thousands of new species and vast ecosystems
But the remotest part of the planet has also attracted massive interest…
…from one of the biggest global industries…
…mining
The deep-ocean floor is packed with minerals…
…needed for a more environmentally sustainable future
But at what cost?
There’s a possibility that we could lose species...
...before we even knew they existed
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean…
…on board the RSS James Cook…
…marine biologist Kerry Howell…
…and a team of scientists are mapping the unknown
If you’re thinking about...
…what have we actually looked at on the sea floor?
It’s less than 0.001%
But you have to remember, it’s vast
It’s 70% of our planet is ocean
And of that 70%…
…90% of that is deep sea
So, it’s a huge, huge area…
…and difficult to get to
With the help of Isis, a four-tonne vehicle…
…operated from the ship’s control room…
…they can plunge to depths of 6km
The deep sea is really classed from about…
…200 metres
And it goes all the way down to 11km deep…
…which is the bottom of the Mariana Trench
The huge machine is fitted with five cameras…
…and robotic arms which collect samples of marine life
It’s this huge…
…ecosystem
That’s consisting of many different types of habitats and species
With every deep-water mission…
…scientists, like Kerry, are able to build a better picture of the ocean floor
And the areas that could be most affected by human activities
So, when we’re out in the deep sea, we collect physical specimens…
…but we mostly are collecting video of the sea floor
And of the animals in situ, so in their natural habitat
So that we can study how those animals live…
…how they interact with other animals…
…and the sorts of roles they have in that ecosystem
These images also reveal the resources critical for a green revolution
People have been looking at the deep sea as a potential source of metals…
…and particularly rare-earth elements…
…that are useful to humans and are used in many electronic devices
Mineral-rich deposits have been found in three different areas of the ocean
On abyssal plains—flat areas of the sea floor…
…are polymetallic nodules, potato-like rocks that contain…
…iron, nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese
Sulphide deposits with lead, zinc, gold and silver...
…have been discovered near hydrothermal vents
And some underwater mountains have rich cobalt crusts
The metals that are contained within these resources…
…things like copper, lithium…
…are used in things like batteries
The argument that is being made is that we need these metals…
…to help with the green revolution
So, the renewable-energy sector, particularly…
…electric cars, these sorts of things…
…use these metals in their production
Current land-mining practices are known to cause…
…severe environmental problems
From loss of biodiversity…
…soil erosion and pollution
Mining of some elements, such as cobalt…
…is centred in poor countries where children…
…are known to carry out dangerous work
It’s calculated that by 2050…
…demand for cobalt and nickel will be four times greater…
…than the available reserves on land
Now, mining companies and some policymakers…
…are making the case that the path to a greener future…
…will have to include extracting these minerals…
…from the ocean floor
Although it’s more difficult, mining companies can extract…
…the same metals from a single location on the ocean floor…
…as they can from two or three mines on land
If a country has mineral resource within its exclusive economic zone
So that's the area of ocean around the country that it’s responsible for
Then it’s up to that nation's government…
…whether or not they choose to use that
And Japan has actually just recently gone ahead and successfully…
…demonstrated the first deep-sea mining…
…in their own waters
In international waters…
…so this is what we call the high seas, or the area, is the seabed…
…that is managed by a UN authority called…
…the International Seabed Authority
And it’s managed on behalf of all of mankind and all nations
The International Seabed Authority—or ISA—has issued…
…30 exploration licences to hunt for precious metals
The Clarion Clipperton Zone, a 6m-square-kilometre area
…in the Eastern Central Pacific Ocean, is of particular interest
It is estimated to hold three to six times more cobalt in its reserves…
…than all known land-based reserves combined
But the CCZ is also rich in newly discovered marine life
I think one of the worries about deep-sea mining…
…is that because we are finding brand new species in these areas…
…there’s a possibility that we could lose species…
…before we even knew they existed
And some of those species could not only benefit deep-sea ecosystems…
…but human health
The bacteria that are living in the sponges, we’re interested in them…
…to see what antibacterial compounds they produce
On land, Kerry has teamed up with Mat Upton…
…a scientist with a specific interest in antibiotics
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat
It’s one of the biggest threats to global human health
So we need to find new antibiotics
Discovering antibiotics in natural environments…
…was something that I was already actively doing
It’s just that when Kerry came with the sponges, it seemed…
…to be an opportunity to look at some really strange and unusual samples
Deep-sea sponges have been around for over 600m years…
…and produce antimicrobial compounds that Mat hopes…
…could be used to make new antibiotics
We know for certain some of the things we found are new
We know for certain some of the things that we have found…
…kill the sorts of bacteria that we want to be able to kill…
…like Staph aureus and E.coli
The very first sponge samples that Kerry gave to Mat…
…produced astonishing results
When we started this, we didn't know what we would find…
…so I was surprised that we found things that had activity that killed…
…these and other bacteria
Some of the early work went really, really well
And we got some very encouraging results
It’s early days, but if Mat is successful…
…an antibiotic derived from the deep sea would be hugely valuable
The biomedical potential of these samples could be immense
And so we need to look at the bacteria in those environments…
…and look at the samples to explore that and understand that…
…in a bit more detail before we go ahead and…
…potentially destroy some of those environments and lose…
…access to those medical benefits
Successful mining applications may well be granted…
…within the next few years
As with mining on land—mining the deep sea will most likely…
…cause huge disturbances to localised deep-water ecosystems
But the knock-on effects could be catastrophic
The deep sea performs a number of services for people
It locks up carbon, which mitigates climate change
It absorbs heat. It recycles nutrients, which support our fisheries
And it’s these other types of service that we get from the deep sea…
…that we don't even think about
And I would like to see just a greater understanding of the potential…
…impacts so that we can make a much more informed decision about…
…whether we do or don't mine the deep sea
With the demand for these essential metals ever-growing…
…governments will need to weigh up the impacts…
…of mining the sea against mining the land
My role as a scientist is really to provide the information to society…
…and governments and management organisations…
…to help them to then understand the sorts of trade-offs…
…they might be making, when deciding about ocean use
For protectors like Kerry, it’s a race against time to explore…
…and understand the secrets of the deep
And ensure governments and mining companies know the risks…
…of exploiting these pristine parts of the planet
Hi, I’m Claire and I directed this film
If you want to learn more about the future of the oceans…
…and the people working to protect them…
…then click on the link opposite
If you want to learn more about The Protectors series…
…then click on the other link
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