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9Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, Former President Trump, Henry Heimuller, Joe Biden, Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, Joe Biden’s dogs, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Bill’s Standard Disclaimer
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Deep Sea Mining will destroy these creatures and thousands of more Creatures we have just discovered.
More than 5,000 new species found in untouched deep-sea wilderness. But they could rapidly be destroyed.
More than 5,000 undescribed animal species have been discovered in the depths of a gigantic untouched expanse in the Pacific Ocean. But scientists warn they could soon be wiped out by deep-sea mining. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, is a fracture zone --a large scar of deformed seafloor created by tectonic plate movements that stretches from Mexico to Hawaii and covers around 2.3 million square miles which is around 3.5 times the area of Alaska. The CCZ seafloor, which ranges from around 2.5 to 3.7 miles below the ocean surface, is covered with potato-size spherical nodules that are rich in highly desired metals such as manganese, cobalt and nickel, as well as small concentrations of extremely valuable rare earth elements, which has made it a prime target for deep-sea mining companies, who see untold riches to be exploited. Scientists have a database, called the CCZ checklist, it contains 5,580 animal species, 438 are officially named. Although Researchers estimate there may be between 6,000 and 8,000 animal species living in the CCZ and that between 88% and 92% of them could be unidentified. That is an incredible discovery which needs to be protected to allow further study. The biodiversity within the CCZ area is very high and unique. The most profuse phylum is arthropods which are invertebrates with an exoskeleton such as sea spiders, barnacles and crustaceans, which makes up 27% of the databank; followed by annelids, or segmented worms, which makes up 18% of the list; and nematodes, or non-segmented worms, which makes up 16% of the species listed. Other groups include cnidarians, a phylum including jellyfish and corals; poriferans, or sponges; mollusks, which include nudibranchs, bivalves and cephalopods; and the nearly indestructible tardigrades. Tardigrades, known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. Of the named check list only six have been recorded living outside the CCZ, which proposes that a bulk of the unidentified species listed are also prevalent to the region. The entire CCZ is outside the national jurisdiction of any country, and as a consequence it is managed by the United Nations' International Seabed Authority or (ISA). Deep-sea mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction is currently banned. But the ISA can grant contracts to mining companies to explore potential deep-sea mining sites. So far, the ISA has granted 17 contracts in the CCZ, covering 463,000 square miles, even though these areas are important scientific areas. But the ISA could begin granting full mining contracts as soon as July 2023 following the deadline for member nations to agree on new mining regulations. If no agreement is reached, companies can start applying for contracts based on draft regulations, which offer very limited environmental protections. This would be devastating to the area with seabed destruction, noise pollution, light pollution and sediment plumes that dump mining waste products directly into the water and simply killing anything in their way while mining. So instead of just doing the right thing and stopping deep sea mining and further studying this gold mine of life at the bottom of the sea’s,, scientists must hurry to try and record the new discoveries, so that mining companies can develop ways of minimizing their impacts on the marine environment. In other words kill off most of the life there and hope it can survive like it has done since the begging of time. Why can’t humans just leave things alone and let nature do its own thing, humans have ruined life above on land why cant we leave the sea’s alone. The greed of man knows no limits until one day there will be nothing left on the Big Blue Marble and humans will move on to the next planet to continue their greed and destruction. People talk about locus and the destruction this bug does, humans are no different than the locus in one aspect in devouring everything they come too. But the one difference is--- bugs do what they do as a natural function--- humans do what they do because they can, and humans are supposed to be the most intelligent life form on earth. I question that assumption every day. Tammy
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