New Scientist - USA (2021-12-18)

18/25 December 2021 | New Scientist | 9

GOVERNMENTS met in Jamaica
last week to decide on the path
towards a controversial new era
of commercial deep-sea mining.
Advocates say tapping mineral-
rich, potato-sized nodules on the
ocean floor will be essential to
meet the rising global demand for
metals in electric cars and other
low-carbon technologies, claiming
it would cause less environmental
harm than land-based mining.
Critics say it will be devastating for
marine life and habitats, and would
happen alongside conventional
mining rather than displacing it.
The UN regulator on the
issue, the International Seabed
Authority (ISA), has awarded more
than 20 contracts for deep-sea
mining research. But progress
on rules for commercial mining,
known as the mining code, has
been slow since talks began in

2016. That changed in July,
      when the Pacific island of
      Nauru forced the issue.
      In partnership with a Canadian
      mining firm, The Metals Company,
      Nauru invoked a clause under a
      UN treaty that triggers a “two-year
      rule”. It effectively means the

ISA must draw up the mining

code by 9 July 2023, at which

point entities can obtain licences

to start commercial exploitation.

The Metals Company told

investors that it hopes to start

“small-scale production” in 2024,

across the Pacific seabed between

Hawaii and Mexico.

Governments agreed a road

map on 10 December that sets out

meeting dates to work on the

mining code throughout next

year, starting in February. One

meeting scheduled to start in

October will discuss a “what if ”

scenario if it looks like there could

be no rules agreed by July 2023.

Helen Scales, a marine

biologist and author, says two

years isn’t long enough to draw up

a robust code. She wants to see a

moratorium on deep-sea mining.

“Nobody knows with any kind of

certainty how we could go ahead

extracting and exploiting these

deposits in the deep sea without

environmental harm,” she says.

“All of the science we have so far

is pointing towards significant

long-term and largely irreversible

damage.” This could stem directly

from machines extracting nodules

and from plumes of sediment

generated by mining.

The Metals Company has

conceded to investors that

“it’s impossible to guarantee

zero loss of biodiversity” from its

operations, because of imperfect

baseline surveys of “wonderful

and fascinating creatures”.

There are sticking points on

the regulations that go beyond

environmental concerns. One big

issue is the size of royalties from

commercial mining owed to all

167 of the ISA’s member countries,

given that seabeds outside of

national waters are considered

a “global commons” for the

world. Another sensitive issue is

compensation. A group of African

countries has said it wants rules

on compensation for any losses

faced by land-based miners

within their borders.

There is one more hurdle

that could trip up the start of

commercial deep-sea mining:

whether private sector firms

can finance the first projects.

Since being listed on the NASDAQ

stock exchange in September,

The Metals Company’s share

price has fallen from around $

to about $2, and it has failed to

attract as much investment as it

hoped. The firm didn’t respond

to a request for comment.  ❚

Environment

Adam Vaughan

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Race to start commercial deep-sea

mining endangers ecosystems

Manganese nodules on

the floor of the central

Pacific basin

Animal behaviour

THE feather colours of certain
kinds of turkeys can predict how
they will cope with life on the farm.
Raised for their meat and eggs,
domesticated turkeys (Meleagris
gallopavo) in Nigeria are born with
either black, white or lavender –
also called bronze – plumes.
Samuel Durosaro at the Federal
University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,
in Nigeria, and his colleagues
ran fearfulness tests on 75 turkey

chicks. The animals all came

from the same genetic line and

included 13 males and 12 females

of each colour.

For some fearfulness tests – in

which, for instance, the birds were

held upside down by their legs

and the amount they flapped their

wings was recorded – plumage

and leg colour didn’t seem to

make any difference.

However, for one test – in which

birds were placed in a dark box

with one small exit hole – the black

turkeys were five times as fast as

the white and lavender birds to

escape. This suggests that black

birds are bolder and less fearful,

says Durosaro.

And in another test, in which

the researchers placed the birds

one by one in a large open box, the

black turkeys showed boldness by

exploring more regions of the box

than the lavender turkeys. White

turkeys explored slightly more

than either black or lavender birds.

But, overall, black birds appeared

to be the boldest, and attempted

to escape from the box seven

times more often than other

birds (Applied Animal Behaviour

Science, doi.org/g8v8).

The differences may be related

to accidental side effects of

domestication in combination

with genetics, says Durosaro, and

could guide farmers to customise

their management techniques

to the particular needs of the

differently coloured turkeys. ❚

Turkey plumage

colour correlates

with bird fearfulness

Christa Lesté-Lasserre

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A turkey

(Meleagris

gallopavo) with

black plumage

“ All of the science we have

so far is pointing towards

long-term and largely

irreversible damage”