Researchers have found that discharge from deep-sea mining operations could be a serious danger to the ocean’s food web.
The research found that waste discharged into the midwater column could have a profound impact on Zooplankton, which is the basis of the ocean’s food web. The team warned that the impact could be so severe that it would affect the food chain up to human consumers.
The findings underline the importance of creating robust rules and regulations to govern the emerging field of subsea mining.
Discussing the effects of the mining discharge, lead author Michael Dowd, an oceanography graduate student at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa, stated:
“When the waste released by mining activity enters the ocean, it creates water as murky as the mud-filled Mississippi River. The pervasive particles dilute the nutritious, natural food particles usually consumed by tiny drifting zooplankton. Micronekton, small shrimp, fish and other animals that swim feed on zooplankton. Some migrate between the depths and near surface waters and they are consumed by fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Zooplankton’s exposure to junk-food sediment has the potential to disrupt the entire food-web.”
While study co-author Prof. Erica Goetze, a marine zooplankton ecology expert, added:
“This isn’t just about mining the seafloor; it’s about reducing the food for entire communities in the deep sea. We found that many animals at the depth of discharge depend on naturally occurring small detrital particles – the very food that mining plume particles replace.”
On the other hand, deep-sea ecologist Prof. Jeffrey Drazen, another study co-author, added:
“Our research suggests that mining plumes don’t just create cloudy water – they change the quality of what’s available to eat, especially for animals that can’t easily swim away. It’s like dumping empty calories into a system that’s been running on a finely-tuned diet for hundreds of years. Before commercial deep-sea mining begins, it is essential to carefully consider the depth at which mining waste is discharged. The fate of these mining-waste plumes and their impact on ocean ecosystems varies with depth, and improper discharge could cause harm to communities from the surface to the seafloor.”
