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Dinghies used for halibut fishing in Greenland. Image courtesy of Caroline Bouchard via Wikimedia Commons (free to use).

‘A decision to decide’: Greenland moves to suspend seabed mining until 2029

Shanna Hanbury 22 Oct 2026
A deep-sea cucumber among polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Image courtesy of ROV-Team GEOMAR/ROV KIEL 6000/GEOMAR.

US deep-sea mining claims in Pacific’s high seas now rival the area set aside by international regulator

Elizabeth Claire Alberts, Andrés Alegría 20 Oct 2026
A Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), a commercially important fish, was once abundant, but its numbers have dwindled in Belize and throughout the Caribbean, and it’s now critically endangered. Image courtesy of Connor Holland/Ocean Image Bank.

Belize looks to the deep sea to complete its 30% ocean protection pledge

Marco Lopez 15 Oct 2026
Vivid orange sea star became an internet sensation for its uncanny resemblance to the cartoon character Patrick Star

‘Patrick’ sea star went viral, but Argentine deep-sea canyon held 57 new species

Liz Kimbrough 13 Oct 2026

More plastic, less glow? Pollution threatens deep sea’s bioluminescent life, experts warn

David Brown 28 Sep 2026
Deep-sea octopus

Caribbean scientists document uncharted deep-sea waters in Trinidad and Tobago

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 9 Sep 2026
A remotely operated vehicle explores brine pool formations in the Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico. Image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust/Nautilus Live.

Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn’t become a carbon dump (commentary)

Craig R. McClain 31 Aug 2026
A sponge crab (Sphaerodromia brizops) collected at the Muirfield Seamount, southwest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Scientists discover 149 new deep-sea species at remote Indian Ocean seamounts

Emma Smith 26 Aug 2026
Manganese nodules on the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton zone that's been considered for deep-sea mining. Image by ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR - Geomar Bilddatenbank via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Six African countries now support precautionary pause on deep-seabed mining

Victoria Schneider 13 Aug 2026
A mason jar holds the plastic debris collected from just three hours of surface trawls, conceptualizing the vast number of plastic fragments and particles swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Deep-sea snails and mussels in Indian and Pacific Oceans contain microplastics, study finds

María Paula Rubiano A. 3 Aug 2026
Benthic jellyfish in the deep sea

UN regulator delays deep-sea mining rules, but extends criticized exploration contract

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 29 Jul 2026
Deep-sea glass squid

Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 9 Jun 2026

‘World’s deepest banner protest’ launched at the bottom of the sea

Liz Kimbrough 28 May 2026
A glass octopus, a nearly transparent species whose only visible features are its optic nerve, eyeballs and digestive tract.

As economic case for deep-sea mining weakens, industry should halt urgency to begin operation (commentary)

Andy Whitmore 28 May 2026

World’s largest shark conference is set to begin in Sri Lanka next week

Malaka Rodrigo 1 May 2026

One of the world’s largest deep-sea coral reefs discovered off Argentina

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 29 Apr 2026
A squat lobster in the deep sea.

Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining (analysis)

Andrew D. Thaler 14 Apr 2026
Casper octopus

This ghost octopus is facing a new threat

Juan Maza 14 Apr 2026
Collage of the 24 new Amphipod species identified in Clarion-Clipperton Zone, CC BY, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

24 new species found in ocean zone eyed for battery metals mining

Liz Kimbrough 9 Apr 2026

At high seas treaty summit, a dispute over fisheries managers’ role in conservation

Edward Carver 7 Apr 2026

American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)

Jackie Dragon 1 Apr 2026
Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) mother and calf as seen from the air. Image by Christin Khan NOAA/NEFSC via Wikimedia. (CC BY-SA 4.0).

With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area

Victoria Schneider 31 Mar 2026

Deep-sea mining rules face delays despite urgent push

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 20 Mar 2026
Banner image: Fish meal factory ships Hua Xin 17 and Tian Yi He 6 anchored on the Geba River near the capital of Bissau. Image by Josef Skrdlik for Mongabay.

Guinea-Bissau’s transitional government bans fish meal production

Josef Skrdlik 2 Mar 2026
A humpback whale breaching in Alaskan waters.

Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters

Anita Hofschneider 11 Feb 2026
Southern right whales in South Africa. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Making 60% of the ocean manageable (Commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jan 2026

A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jan 2026

Photos: Top new species from 2025

Liz Kimbrough 29 Dec 2025
Kristina-Maria-Gjerde. Image courtesy of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI).

Kristina Gjerde, defender of the deep ocean, has died

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Dec 2025
This sea cucumbers belongs to the same family as sea pigs and swims in search of food and to escape predators. Behind it is a stalked glass sponge.

Deep-sea mining interests raise alarms among Mariana Trench communities

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 10 Dec 2025

Norway pauses deep-sea mining for four years

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 8 Dec 2025

Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid scrutiny over mining motives

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 6 Nov 2025

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