Overview
- The five-year experiment in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone found a 32 percent drop in species diversity within sediment directly disturbed by a mining machine.
- Sites exposed to the machine’s sediment plume showed no overall loss in animal numbers but shifted toward greater dominance by some species, indicating community disruption.
- Researchers completed four expeditions, collected 4,350 macrofaunal specimens, and identified 788 species using DNA-based methods to build a regional baseline.
- The study was led by the Natural History Museum, the University of Gothenburg, and the UK National Oceanography Centre and is intended to guide ISA environmental assessments.
- No commercial mining licences exist for the high seas, and Greenpeace and other groups are urging a global moratorium even as some national exploration continues.