{"id":14188,"date":"2025-03-10T15:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T02:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/new-zealand\/?p=14188"},"modified":"2025-03-14T09:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T20:52:00","slug":"what-is-seabed-mining-and-why-does-it-threaten-the-oceans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/what-is-seabed-mining-and-why-does-it-threaten-the-oceans\/","title":{"rendered":"What is seabed mining, and how does it threaten the ocean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seabed mining<\/a> is the latest threat facing the oceans. If seabed miners are given the go-ahead to plunder the ocean floor, it could be devastating for marine life. That is on top of the pressures from overfishing, the climate crisis and pollution.<\/p>\n\n

So far, there is no commercial seabed mining anywhere in the world. But here in Aotearoa, wannabe miners would like to get their hands on the South Taranaki Bight, and other companies are desperate to start deep sea mining in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n

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Here\u2019s everything you need to know:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. What is seabed mining?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How does seabed mining work?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What are the risks of seabed mining?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. What is the threat of seabed mining in Aotearoa?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Why seabed mining matters globally<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. What you can do to stop seabed mining<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n

    What is seabed mining?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

    Seabed mining involves dredging up the seafloor to extract metals and minerals. <\/p>\n\n

    Then unwanted materials are dumped back into the sea, smothering the surrounding area with a sediment plume, like a dust cloud, which will travel for kilometres. Both the dredging and the dumping are likely to cause extensive environmental damage. <\/p>\n\n

    Some of the deep sea areas where seabed miners want to excavate are also the areas that support some of the most unique and least understood biodiversity on the planet.<\/p>\n\n

    Deep sea mining is seabed mining<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

    The terms seabed mining and deep sea mining<\/a> are two sides of the same coin. Both mean plundering the ocean floor to extract minerals and metals, leaving devastation in place of diversity. Typically, the term deep sea mining refers to mining polymetalic nodules from the seafloor of the deep sea. Seabed mining typically refers to shallower mining where the sandy seafloor is sucked to the surface in large quantities where minerals are extracted from it.<\/p>\n\n

    How does seabed mining work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

    Seabed mining in the South Taranaki Bight would involve a suction pump like a massive vacuum cleaner that sucks up sand from the seabed to a dredger ship above. The sand would be sorted while still at sea, with the minerals or metals extracted and exported offshore. Whatever is left is dumped back into the water, smothering the surrounding area with the sediment plume.<\/p>\n\n

    \"An
    Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM)
    \u00a9 KASM<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

    What are the risks of seabed mining?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

    Seabed mining is a relatively new and experimental technique. Much of the science around its environmental impacts is incomplete.<\/p>\n\n

    We know less about the deep sea than about the surface of the moon. In fact, it was only in July 2024 that \u201cdark oxygen\u201d<\/a> was discovered. Strange potato-shaped metallic lumps – polymetallic nodules – are producing oxygen on the deep sea floor – and companies want to mine them.<\/p>\n\n

    We don\u2019t know the full significance of this discovery yet, but we do know now that these nodules have a role within the deep sea ecosystem. And it highlights how damaging it could be to destroy an ecosystem we barely understand, and yet depend on.<\/p>\n\n

    Read more: What the discovery of dark oxygen means for seabed mining<\/a><\/p>\n\n

    Seabed mining would be devastating for the fragile ecosystems, wildlife and environment. Below are just some of the risks seabed mining would pose:<\/p>\n\n