OPT Sends Off WAM-V USV for Indo-Pacific Operations
with 24/7 operational payloads for multiple days without requiring a return to base.This unit recently completed demonstration, conducting a three day fully remote, continuous survey operation, while deploying a simulated survey payload."This is a great milestone for OPT. The vastness of the Pacific Ocean makes this an important capability for our customers.“This design enables the WAM-V to conduct prolonged operations inclusive of survey, maritime security, and/or environmental research with a complex array of above and below the waterline sensing capability,” said Philipp Stratmann
First Deep-Sea Mining Company Asks Trump for International Permit
shore, and companies are already lining up to mine U.S. waters.Vancouver-based The Metals Co asked the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 to operate in part of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.The application was timed to coincide with a Tuesday hearing on deep-sea mining by a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee at which Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Co, testified."America has an urgent need for critical
Trump Order Fast Tracks Subsea Mining
.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.The order, which Trump signed in private, seeks to jumpstart the mining of both U.S. and international waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry.Parts of the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere are estimated to contain large amounts of potato-shaped rocks known as polymetallic nodules filled with the building blocks for electric vehicles and electronics.More than 1 billion metric tons of those nodules are estimated to be in U.S. waters and filled with manganese, nickel
Impossible Metals Seeks Mining Lease Near American Samoa
Deep-sea mining firm Impossible Metals said on Tuesday that it has asked U.S. federal officials to launch a commercial auction for access to deposits of nickel, cobalt and other critical minerals off the coast of American Samoa.The waters around the Pacific Ocean territory are estimated to contain large amounts of potato-shaped rocks known as polymetallic nodules filled with the building blocks for electric vehicles and electronics.The request from privately held Impossible Metals asks the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - which oversees mineral deposits in
China Concerned About US Deep-Sea Metals Stockpile Plan
resource exploration in the seabed, China's foreign ministry said on Monday, following a report of U.S. plans to stockpile deep-sea metals to counter China's dominance in the sector.The Trump administration is drafting an executive order to enable stockpiling of deep-sea metals found on the Pacific Ocean seabed to counter China's dominance of battery minerals and rare earth supply chains, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.The stockpile would "create large quantities ready and available on U.S. territory to be used in the future," in
Trump Plans to Stockpile Deep Sea Metals
The Trump administration is drafting an executive order to enable the stockpiling of metals found on the Pacific Ocean seabed to counter China's dominance in battery minerals and rare earth supply chains, The Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.(Reuters - Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)
Ocean Acidification: Warming’s “Evil Twin”
latest State of the Global Climate report released in March confirmed that acidification of the ocean surface is continuing, demonstrated by the steady decrease of global average ocean surface pH. The most intense regional decreases are in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.Projections show that ocean acidification will continue to increase in the 21st century at rates dependent on future emissions, and the report points out that changes in deep-ocean pH are irreversible on centennial to millennial
Grander Canyons
There are subsea canyons far bigger than the Grand Canyon.The Grand Canyon is 6,093 feet (1,857 meters) deep, but the Zhemchug Canyon, located in the middle of the Bering Sea, is 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) deep.The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 kilometers) long, but the Kroenke Canyon in the western Pacific Ocean is 480 miles (700 kilometers) long. It is the longest and the most voluminous submarine canyon yet discovered.There are around 10,000 submarine canyons on Earth, covering around 11% of the continental slope, and they are an important source of ocean biodiversity, they transport sediment and pollution
WMO Documents Spiraling Climate Impacts
of the 21st century, even for low carbon emission scenarios.Ocean AcidificationAcidification of the ocean surface is continuing, as shown by the steady decrease of global average ocean surface pH. The most intense regional decreases are in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific, and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.The effects of ocean acidification on habitat area, biodiversity and ecosystems have already been clearly observed, and food production from shellfish aquaculture and fisheries has been hit as have coral reefs.Projections
February 2025
