Deep sea surveys detect over five thousand new species in future mining hotspot

5,000 rare species in Pacific threatened by deep-sea mining

An area of the Pacific sea bed targeted for the world’s first deep-sea mining operations is home to more than 5,000 species, many of which scientists said are u

Deep sea surveys detect over five thousand new species in future mining hotspot

There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean -- about twice the size of India -- called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which has already been divided up and assigned to companies for future deep-sea mining. To better understand what may be at risk once companies start mining, a team of biologists has built the first 'CCZ checklist' by compiling all the species records from previous research expeditions to the region. Their es…

90% of Species in an Area Slated for Deep-Sea Mining Might Be Unknown to Science

Deep beneath the sparkling surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the vast expanse between Mexico and Hawaii, lies an area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). At the floor of this marine region, between 12,000 and 18,000 feet below sea level, is a wide and mucky abyssal plain dotted by seamounts, that covers about…Read more...

Meet the ‘gummy squirrel’ and thousands of other newly discovered deep-sea species – in pictures

A trove of biodiversity has been catalogued by scientists in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast area of the Pacific Ocean situated between Hawaii and Mexico, which has been targeted by deep-sea mining companies keen to exploit its mineral wealth