My painting FIVE VULNERABLE DEEP OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS will be featured in giant scale (10 feet square, wall size!) at the 2024 United Nations Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Opening April 10, 2024. I am so honored!
Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) Science Team—United Nations Ocean Decade Conference, Barcelona, Spain April 2024Photo Courtesy of Dr. Lisa Levin
FIVE VULNERABLE DEEP-OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS
The deep ocean is at risk of becoming industrialized in a haphazard way without sufficient environmental planning. Human activities are increasing rapidly there, virtually out of sight and often beyond national jurisdiction and control.
The Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, a union of experts and ideas from across disciplines and sectors, have joined together to develop strategies for sustainable use and management of deep-ocean resources. To learn more and get on the mailing list, go to: https://www.dosi-project.org/
This compilation depicts ongoing and potential resource extraction activities of humans in the deep sea—and habitats and animals that could be affected by these activities.
HABITATS (not to scale) clockwise from upper left:
MANGANESE NODULE FIELDS (>4000 meters deep): Manganese Nodules Mining Collector.
Species: Sea Cucumber (Holothuroidea); Jellyfish (Voragonema pedunculata); Deep-Sea Anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsoni); Tripod Fish (Bathypterois grallator). Manganese nodules form extremely slowly, adding a centimeter over several million years.
PHOSPHATE MINING ON THE MARGIN OFF NAMIBIA: Granular Airlift System to recover phosphates for fertilizer.
Species: Hake Fish (Merluccius merluccius), Bearded Goby (Sufflogobius bibarbatus); Jellyfish (Chrysaora africana)—a food chain of interdependent species.
METHANE SEEPS: Subsea Spar Well with tubular risers for drilling and water injection, used in oil drilling at depths of 2,000—10,000 feet.
Species: Tube Worms (Lamellibrachia luymesi) can live more than 250 years; Mussels (Bathymodiolus childressi); Brine Seep; Yeti Crab (Kiwa hirsuta); Deep Sea Crab (Chaceon quinquedens).
SEA MOUNT FISHING: Deep Ocean Bottom Trawl Net (100 meters wide) with trawl doors, each door weighing up to 9,000 pounds.
Species: Blackbelly Rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus); Orange Roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) lives up to 149 years; Blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus); Squat Lobster (Munida quadrishpina); Coldwater Coral (Lophelia pertusa); Bubblegum Corals (Paragorgia arborea); Feather Star (Florometra serratissima).
HYDROTHERMAL VENTS: Seafloor Production Tool (SPT) for mining of copper, zinc and gold. This roughly 25 foot high tool can be used as deep as 6,000 meters.
Species: Black Smoker Vents; Galatheid Crabs (Shinkaia crosnieri); White Bacterial Mats (Beggiatoa alba); Hydrothermal Vent Mussel (Bathymodiolus thermophilus); Giant TubeWorms (Riftia pachyptila).
These deep-ocean ecosystems host a “living library” of genetic resources, including many new and yet-to-be-discovered species.
©Tanya Young 2024
Oil Painting on panel, 18 x 24