In complete darkness at over 2,000m deep, a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale digs in soft sediment using high-frequency echolocation to find its crab prey. Slime eels assemble for scraps around a plume of fine sediment and gas bubbles emerge from the seafloor between rocks rich in manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt. We know less about these landscapes than the moon. The seafloor is a huge deposit for carbon. In places, the substrate is a kilometre thick which may have taken over 300 million years to deposit. Deep-sea mining threatens this untouched wilderness and could release dangerous levels of contaminants into the ocean. There are places where 1% of the entire seabed surface is ear-marked for mining. Many scientists think it is a place best left alone and that disturbing the last pristine untouched wilderness on our planet, we may be taking a step too far for human survival.
Articles with Cuvier’s Beaked Whale
Spotlight
The longest whale dive ever recorded clocks in at almost 4 hours
A Cuvier’s beaked whale has made the longest dive by any mammal ever recorded, lasting 3 hours and 42 minutes. That smashes the previous record of 2 hours and 43 minutes. Read more …
Animal Impact Art Book
Local postage. Available in 16 countries.
