A new University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa study has found that more than half of the zooplankton forming the ocean’s food building blocks in the “twilight zone” (a vital region 200–1,500 meters
A new University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa study has found that more than half of the zooplankton forming the ocean’s food building blocks in the “twilight zone” (a vital region 200–1,500 meters below sea level) could be harmed by deep-sea mining, risking bigger creatures further up the food web.
The study finds that 53% of all zooplankton and 60% of micronekton, which feed on zooplankton, would be impacted by the discharge of the mining waste, which could ultimately impact predators higher up on the food web.
“When the waste released by mining activity enters the ocean, it creates water as murky as the mud-filled Mississippi River. The pervasive particles dilute the nutritious, natural food particles usually consumed by tiny, drifting zooplankton,” said Michael Dowd, lead author of the study and oceanography graduate student in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).
“Micronekton, small shrimp, fish and other animals that swim, feed on zooplankton. Some migrate between the depths and near surface waters and they are consumed by fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Zooplankton’s exposure to junk food sediment has the potential to disrupt the entire food web.”
The study examined the content and effects of mining
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