How Deep Sea Mining could permanently disrupt the ocean’s most important animal routes, and most people have never thought about it. This episode poses a critical question: what happens when mining operations intersect with species that rely on vast migratory pathways to survive? We break down the science in a way that makes the stakes impossible to ignore, from whale communication and sea turtle navigation to seabird feeding routes and shark migrations.

Whales: Our guest, Dr. Andrew Thaler, explains how mining doesn’t just damage the seafloor. It sends noise, light, sediment, and pollution across the entire water column. The most surprising takeaway is that animals living near the surface could suffer major impacts from mining occurring thousands of meters below them, simply because their survival depends on calm, uninterrupted travel corridors. It turns the deep sea into a threat zone rather than a sanctuary.

Ocean conservation: This conversation exposes a major gap in global mining policy. The focus is always the seabed, but the species most at risk never go anywhere near it. That realization leads to a powerful conclusion: when we talk about protecting the ocean, we can’t just talk about the bottom. We have to protect everything that connects it from top to bottom.

Listen now to understand the full story.

Chapters:
00:00 Why deep-sea mining threatens ocean species
01:00 How whales, turtles, seabirds, sharks, and rays are affected
06:40 Mining impacts the entire water column
13:10 Why noise pollution travels across the ocean
17:40 The biggest misconception about deep-sea mining
22:15 Species most vulnerable to mining risks
31:35 What a full-scale mining operation looks like
40:45 What the gap assessment revealed about migratory animals
51:00 The hidden risks nobody is talking about
56:40 Can the ocean be protected before mining expands?

#oceanconservation #MarineBiology #SaveOurOceans #ProtectTheOcean #OceanAwareness #BluePlanet #ConservationMatters #ScienceForChange #SustainableOceans
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