New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Science examines the potential for underwater noise pollution from seabed mining operations, which could affect the understudied species that live in the deep sea—the largest habitat on Earth.

The study by scientists from Oceans Initiative, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, Curtin University in Australia, and the University of Hawaii—and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts—found that noise from one mine alone could travel approximately 500 kilometers (roughly 311 miles) in gentle weather conditions, with cumulative impacts likely in places where multiple mines operate.

Despite increasing interest in deep-sea mining, there are long-standing concerns about environmental impacts on vulnerable and poorly understood ecosystems. These concerns took on new urgency in June 2021, when the Republic of Nauru notified the International Seabed Authority [ISA, the intergovernmental body erected by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) responsible for managing seabed resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction] of intent to sponsor an exploitation application for polymetallic nodule mining in the Pacific in 2 years.

This triggered a provision in the 1994 Agreement related to UNCLOS, leaving 2 years for the ISA to adopt its first set of exploitation regulations or, failing that, consider Nauru’s application under existing international law. We argue that a critical source of potential environmental harm is understudied and largely overlooked: underwater noise generated by mining activities, which can disrupt ecosystems in many ways.

Further information can be found here in Phys.org and in the Verge. The journal article in Science can be read here.