Lots of eyes are on the deep sea right now. Recent advancements in US policy are inching forward the possibilities of harvesting marine minerals. NOAA announced a new hydrographic survey project to map and characterize federal waters off American Samoa and also signaled revisions to the regulations for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permit applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act.
With these federal policy developments, we have also seen response from the offshore industry and the marine science supply chain. For example, The Metals Company USA LLC (TMC USA) filed for the first consolidated deep-seabed mining application which, if granted, covers ~65,000 km² of exploration and commercial recovery area in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). Teledyne RD Instruments (Teledyne RDI) also announced the sale of 20 Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) for a project that would study the environmental impact of critical mineral exploration on the ocean floor in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The new year also brought with it an influx of marine mammal research news. From uncovering the mysteries of elusive beaked whales along the US Gulf coast to harbor porpoises “buzzing” with the presence of vessels to climate impacts on Australia’s southern right whale to novel method development to determining PFAS concentrations in whales.
Spaces we’re watching: marine mining, marine instruments, ocean observing
You’ll find news and insights on all the above in “the water column”—an exclusive editorial dedicated to giving our readers an alternate, bird’s eye view of the most significant happenings across the marine science, industry, and policy space. To keep abreast of all the latest developments, access the water column in print editions of eco magazine, nestled among the pages of Environmental Policy news, and in a monthly circulating digital edition found on LinkedIn and our website.
