"University of Hawaii researchers studied an area of the Pacific Ocean called the "twilight zone," about 650-5,000 feet (200-1,500 meters) below sea level. Their peer-reviewed findings, published Thursday in the Nature Communications scientific journal, say mining waste could affect anything from tiny shrimp smaller than .08 inches (2 millimeters) long to fish 2 inches (5 centimeters) long. That's because, after mining companies bring the mineral-rich nodules up to the surface,"
"they have to release excess sea water, ocean floor dirt and sediment back into the ocean. That creates a murky plume of particles about the same size as the naturally occurring food particles normally eaten by the zooplankton that swim at that depth. That's a little more than half of the zooplankton in the ocean. If those organisms eat the waste particles - what senior study author Brian Popp called "junk food" - then that affects 60% of micronekton that eat the zooplankton."
Water and waste from a 2022 deep-sea mining trial were examined in the twilight zone (200–1,500 meters depth). Mining operations bring polymetallic nodules to the surface and release excess seawater, sediment and particulates back into midwaters. The released plume contains particles similar in size to natural zooplankton food, causing ingestion of low-nutrient “junk food.” About half of oceanic zooplankton and roughly 60% of micronekton that feed on them could be undernourished. Undernourishment of these midwater organisms threatens food transfer up the marine food web and could reduce the productivity of commercially important fish like mahi mahi and tuna.
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