As the push for deep-sea mining intensifies, experts are increasingly concerned that companies will kick up clouds of sediment, which could be laden with toxic heavy metals that may harm marine life. At least 700 scientists – along with France, Germany and Chile – are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
So, sand and dust and mud sitting on the floor of the ocean is fine. But stir it up a bit until it falls out of the water again onto the sea bed and that’s toxic pollution?
Because that is what is being complained about. No one is digging anything, there’s no release of anything. It’s that sea bed sediment being mixed up into the water for a bit.
Horrors, eh?
Better ban earthquakes and underwater volcanoes then.
Also those fish that sift through the sea bed for food need banning.
As does going for a paddle.
And those windmills out in the sea need to go. Surely they disturbed the sea bed as well?
‘And those windmills out in the sea need to go. Surely they disturbed the sea bed as well?’
Whatever else you do, that is definitely what’s needed!!
Chernyy… That….that’s…different!!! 😉
There’s money in them thar scares.
I would guess that a lot of sediment could kill marine life.
As we need these metals for windfarms electric cars etc maybe another reason to go nuclear and hydrogen.
Is this the same sediment laden with toxic heavy metals that many marine animals burrow into for shelter and safety? And the same sediment they themselves stir up looking for prey?
And this sediment laden with toxic heavy metals, is it formed from particles laden with toxic heavy metals in the water which gradually obey gravity to settle on the bottom and through which marine animale constantly swim?
And these particles laden with toxic heavy metals dispersed in the water pass across the gills of marine animals and through their gut quite harmlessly , but when said marine animals encounter the occasional plastic micro-particle produced by Planet-destroying Mankind, its curtains for them. Odd that – until you realise that all environmentalists and conservationists are barking mad.
One issue is if sediment that has lain safely undisturbed for ages gets kicked up into a current, then it will get spread out into areas that have never had the sediment’s contents. See Seal Sands sediment dredging.
It’s to imagine a scene in the HQ of every environmentalist organisation:
“Hey, the capitalists are just about to [insert subject here], call round the subjects and find reasons why the can’t do it, I’ll start preparing the press release”.
I can sort of see the point. The metal will have been deposited over millions of years. There was never much in the water at any one time to trouble the fish. Then you go stirring it up & you’ve 20 million years worth gunge floating around.
More the point, so what? They’re not going to be doing this on fishing grounds. So some fish we’ve never seen, don’t know about & nobody cares about choke. SFW? It’s not going to make the slightest difference to our environment.
Trouble with environmentalists. They forget who owns the planet. We do. By virtue of being the nastiest buggers in the jungle. For environmentalists, they’d rather see Europe covered in mammoth herds & wolf packs. We might be fortunate enough to get back in the trees.
Wait till they read about the marine carnage caused by conservationists lifting ship-wrecks back to the surface and thence to dry dock.
@John
“Is this the same sediment laden with toxic heavy metals that many marine animals burrow into for shelter and safety? And the same sediment they themselves stir up looking for prey?”
In my garden are plants that are happy in the soil. If someone drops lots of soil on top of them they will die. A lot of these animals are not that mobile so it could kill them.