Many ecologically and commercially important species aggregate around them, including tuna, marine mammals, sharks and seabirds. This was demonstrated in the experiment DISCOL (Disturbance and Recolonization), which the AWI and a host of other European research centres contributed to. In 1989, eleven square kilometres of the Pacific seafloor were churned up in an area roughly 650 kilometres southeast of the Galápagos Islands to simulate the mining of manganese nodules. In the years since, several expeditions have returned to the site to track its development. Decades later, the scars are still clearly recognisable, and there have been lasting changes to the biotic community. Many deep-sea organisms are capable of producing light, either on their own or with the help of bacteria.

• Covering more than half of the planet’s surface, this hidden world is teeming with unique and bizarre life forms—from glowing jellyfish to fish that can withstand crushing pressure.
• The exploration of the deep sea is a journey into the unknown, and it is a journey that holds the promise of unlocking some of the greatest secrets of our planet.
• By valuing and safeguarding the deep ocean, we ensure a healthier planet and the preservation of life’s strangest, most fascinating forms for generations to come.
• Animals like mussels and crabs come to feed on the special bacteria by the lake’s edge, and often there are whole communities that live along the shore.
• It is estimated that millions of species inhabit the deep ocean, many of which have yet to be discovered and described by science.
• Yet even in this hostile environment, there are survivors that use special strategies to cope.

The Critical Minerals Conundrum: What You Should Know

• However, this otherworldly perception of the deep sea should not alienate us from recognising the real and tangible consequences of climate change, ocean acidification, mining, industrial fishing, and pollution.
• In addition to measuring devices, they have a high-resolution onboard camera, used to capture their surroundings.
• The regulations need to be backed by science and other forms of knowledge, enforceable, and offer effective protection for delicate marine environments from the impacts of mining.
• They obtain the energy and nutrients they need to survive by trapping tiny organisms in their polyps from passing currents.
• Despite its importance, the deep sea faces significant threats, from deep-sea mining and overfishing to pollution and climate change.
• The Japan “Ring Of Fire” Expedition explored some of the deepest parts of the ocean and documented nearly 30,000 organisms.

As a result, scientists working in the deep sea constantly encounter new species and other surprises. For example, in February 2021 an AWI team discovered the world’s largest fish breeding colony in the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea. Images taken with a camera system towed by the research icebreaker Polarstern captured countless nests of Deep Sea the ice fish species Neopagetopsis ionah on the seafloor, at depths from 420 to 535 metres.
At the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, we believe that protecting the deep sea starts with understanding it. The Knowledge Hub is your gateway to discovering the wonders of the deep, and learning how this hidden world is connected to all of us. Some deepsea fishes, like the fish in ‘Finding Nemo’ are indeed like that, but others are very different. Vulnerable deep-sea habitats will be mapped with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) in a study made possible by a £2m investment. The dives revealed that although the abundance of organisms could be lower in the hadal zone compared to shallower waters near the shore, many major groups of animals were still present, displaying “an amazing range of adaptations”, according to Dr Swanborn. One of the dives also led to the discovery of the world’s deepest fish, a snailfish living over 8km below the sea level, a finding researchers announced in 2023.

Pressure

The construction of a speculative seabed archive through the language of common heritage can thus, practically speaking, become a tool of colonization. In the blue archive, the notion of a ‘resource’ or ‘cultural artifact’ is thereby invented alongside the designation of others as obstacles (ocean waste, natural turbulence, indigenous communities, environmental fragility) (Han 2024, 45-46). The rich diversity of the Red Sea is in part due to the 2,000 km (1,240 mi) of coral reef extending along its coastline; these fringing reefs are 5000–7000 years old and are largely formed of stony acropora and porite corals.

Seafloor Habitats

Hydrogen sulfide is normally poisonous, but the Riftia worm has a special adaptation that isolates it from the rest of the body. Their blood contains hemoglobin that binds tightly to both oxygen and hydrogen sulfide. Further investigation into these unique habitats showed that many of the other creatures that live by the vents also rely on symbiotic bacteria. The yeti crab waves its arms in the water to help cultivate bacteria on tiny arm hairs which it then consumes.

Exploring the Deep Sea: Why It’s Fascinating, Vital, and Worth Protecting

Attuning ourselves to these forgotten heroes, buried in the seabed and disturbed by the drilling of robotic machines, invites a critical rethinking of the ongoing territorialisation of the ocean. These visions ‘re-turn colonial geo-logics, slowly tearing at colonial pasts, presents, and futures in an iterative, ongoing process of imaginative decolonisation’ (Stuer 2025, 33-4). The ghosts of a violent past call us to awareness, mourning, and action, urging us to envision oceanic futures that resist repetition and reclaim submerged histories (Patrizi 2024).

Science

It calls for improved baseline monitoring using methods like baited and pelagic cameras, tagging studies and egg case surveys. And it suggests developing spatial management tools to protect vulnerable habitats. For example, he said, the blue shark (Prionace glauca), whose range the study found overlapped with all three types of mining areas, is one of the main species sold internationally for shark meat. “What does that mean for metal accumulation in a very real and large global trade?

The IUCN, the global conservation authority, classifies 10 of these species as endangered or critically endangered, eight as vulnerable to extinction, and three as near threatened. The ISA mining areas are in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, the Western Pacific Ocean, and the Central Indian Ocean Basin. New research has found that deep-sea mining in international waters could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras — many of which are already at risk of extinction. Although deep-sea mining is still emerging, the recent changes in its landscape suggest a future where the industry becomes yet another frontline for competition between the US and China. 2025 was the year many countries set their deadlines to begin commercial deep-sea mining, making the coming months critical as parties wait for the ISA and global regulations to emerge.