{"id":59487,"date":"2023-06-07T11:48:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T15:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=59487"},"modified":"2025-07-02T04:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:06:41","slug":"protect-the-deep-sea-this-world-oceans-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/59487\/protect-the-deep-sea-this-world-oceans-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect the deep sea this World Oceans Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Spring is ending, summer is nearly here, and Action season is starting!<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Tomorrow is World Oceans Day and this year\u2019s focus is all about putting oceans first<\/a>. Part of that is protecting the seabed from deep sea mining \u2013 a new extractive industry that is attempting to ravage the seafloor for metals and destroy the fragile ecosystem in its path<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

So in the lead up to this special day \u2014 and in preparation for the July International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting where governments, including Canada, will decide whether to allow deep sea mining to proceed this year or not \u2014 Greenpeace activists and volunteers mobilized across the world as part of a global day of action to say no to this highly destructive industry.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

At Greenpeace Canada, we decided to bring this issue straight to Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly\u2019s door (or as close as we could get to it). Greenpeace Canada activists and staff created a 48 by 30 foot octopus light installation on Maple Island near the federal Global Affairs buildings<\/a> to urge Minister Melanie Joly to say no to deep sea mining in international waters. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for Canada\u2019s position at the ISA, so it was important that we remind her of what\u2019s at risk.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n

\"Greenpeace
Greenpeace Canada’s light installation on Maple Island in Ottawa, Ontario.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The ghost octopus, affectionately known as Casper, had a special message for M\u00e9lanie Joly: Protect my home<\/strong> \u2013 and we couldn\u2019t agree more. The ghost octopus lays its eggs on mineral deposits on the seabed<\/a> that take millions of years to grow. But this deep sea creature is not the only species at risk, there are thousands more. In fact, just a few weeks ago, news went viral that more than 5,500 new deep sea creatures had been discovered<\/a>. Deep sea mining would cause irreversible damage to deep sea habitats, and countless unique species that call this mostly untouched ecosystem home.<\/p>\n\n

\"Creatures
Creatures found in the deep sea (Deepsea Sea cucumbers, Yeti crab and Seastar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Outside of Canada, Greenpeace Thailand made a picturesque light installation of an octopus in the ocean, while activists in Switzerland and Senegal created impressive human banners and divers off Reunion Island held a protest underwater.<\/p>\n\n

\"Greenpeace
Greenpeace activists and volunteers taking action across the world to bring attention to this highly destructive industry and call on governments to say no to deep sea mining.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The time to act is now. <\/strong>What if we could go back in time and stop offshore drilling at the dawn of the oil age? We could prevent the ongoing climate crisis, as well as countless oil spills and leaks. The oceans are at the centre of the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. Marine life can\u2019t take any more pressure. <\/p>\n\n

Today, we have a once in a generation opportunity<\/strong> to stop this industry now, so that it never starts – protecting the largest ecosystem on the planet, facing down one of the latest forms of neocolonialism<\/a>, and challenging a greedy industry trying to legitimize its activity through greenwash<\/a> (they claim they want the mined metals to be used for green technology). Destroying the oceans is never a good way to save the planet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\n
Sign the petition<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Despite the growing pressure and the global mobilization, <\/strong>governments haven\u2019t yet reached an agreement to protect the oceans from deep sea mining<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>The door has been left open for the industry to start plundering the seabed as soon as this year. It is unacceptable.  <\/p>\n\n

If we don\u2019t act now, the wondrous deep sea species we\u2019re only beginning to understand (and discover!) could be lost forever and Pacific people’s way of life could be seriously impacted because they depend on the oceans spiritually, culturally, and economically.<\/p>\n\n

\"Deep
Deep Sea Mining proposed sites and subsequent impacts on the oceans and on biodiversity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Let\u2019s take a stand for marine ecosystems this World Oceans Day! We just won a historic Global Ocean Treaty, so we can use this momentum<\/a> to push more governments to come out against deep sea mining and hold world leaders accountable to deliver ocean protection. Urge Canada to live up to its commitments to protect marine biodiversity, today!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTAKE ACTION\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Help stop another extractive industry from damaging the global oceans. Sign our petition and join us in calling on Canada to stay true to its commitment and say no to deep sea mining.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Sign the petition\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this World Oceans Day, help protect the ghost octopus and other marine creatures from the environmental threat of deep sea mining. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":59562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"Protect the deep sea this World Oceans Day","p4_og_description":"Help protect the ghost octopus and other marine creatures from the environmental threat of deep sea mining. ","p4_og_image":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-canada-stateless\/2023\/06\/9c36a5fd-gp0stpmcl_medium_res_with_credit_line.jpg","p4_og_image_id":"59562","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Stop Deep Sea Mining","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"Oceans","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[114,3,5],"tags":[23,29,31],"p4-page-type":[16],"class_list":["post-59487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actions","category-nature","category-our-work","tag-climate","tag-indigenous","tag-oceans","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59487"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70924,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59487\/revisions\/70924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59487"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=59487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}