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Author: Admin | 2025-04-27
What data might be acceptable.Credit: Jen Christiansen; Source: “Estimates of Metals Contained in Abyssal Manganese Nodules and Ferromanganese Crusts in the Global Ocean Based on Regional Variations and Genetic Types of Nodules,” by Kira Mizell, James R. Hein, Manda Au and Amy Gartman, in Perspectives on Deep-Sea Mining, edited by Rahul Sharma. Springer, 2022 (nodule data); “2022 Final List of Critical Minerals,” by U.S. Geological Survey (reference)Some mistrust stems from the fact that ISA has never refused an application for exploration, even in regions recommended as marine-protected areas by international conservation organizations. One especially contentious case is a 2018 contract awarded to Poland to explore a vast site in the mid-Atlantic, next to and partly in the site of the Lost City hydrothermal field—one of the most extreme environments ever discovered on Earth, which scientists hope will be considered for World Heritage status.Diva Amon, a biologist from Trinidad, is one of ISA's most vocal critics. She says the agency's requirements for contractors are far too weak. Amon's first postdoctoral research position, at the University of Hawaii, took her to the CCZ, where—like Glover—she was collecting biological data from a site targeted for mining, in her case by UK Seabed Resources, then a subsidiary of the arms giant Lockheed Martin. In 2017 Amon founded SpeSeas—a nonprofit dedicated to raising ocean awareness—and in 2020 she was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. She starred alongside Will Smith in the actor's documentary series Welcome to Earth. Now at U.C. Santa Barbara, Amon focuses on understanding the deep sea, including the CCZ; she is no longer collecting data for contractors.Amon says “there's a fundamental difference between science to understand and science to exploit”—something she has learned from working in both situations. She says science to exploit often becomes “a tick box exercise”—doing only what's needed to satisfy a checklist. The problem with that, Amon says, is “not all contractors are doing high-quality science. Not all contractors are doing a lot of science. And not all contractors are making their science accessible.” Malcolm Clark, a biologist who has served as an adviser on the ISA's Legal and Technical Commission for the past seven years, agrees.TMC has conducted several baseline surveys of one of its three CCZ sites, called NORI-D, collecting data on the density and location of the nodules, and the area's habitat and biology. In March 2023 it submitted the first tranche of these data to ISA, saying it intended to submit the remaining data before August 2023. Amon claims the information is insufficient. “A big part of understanding a place—especially a place that you've never been to—is understanding the variation over a [long] period of time,” she says.Renee Grogan shares some of Amon's
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