The Trump administration announced this past week that it has entered talks with the Cook Islands to research and develop seabed mineral resources. The Polynesian archipelago is one of only a handful ...

Scientists discovered 24 new deep-sea species, including one from a completely new branch of life in the Pacific Ocean.

After years of deep-sea sleuthing, National Geographic Explorer Katy Croff Bell has created a treasure map. It’s not drawn on ...

The deep sea, the planet’s most expansive and least understood ecosystem, remains largely unexplored. Yet while the deep sea may seem a dark and distant space, events underwater directly impact our ...

A new study indicates that deep-sea mining could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras, many of which are already at risk of extinction. The authors found that seabed sediment ...

In 2024, researchers made a groundbreaking discovery in the Pacific Ocean's Clarion-Clipperton Zone, finding that oxygen increased over two days to more than three times the background concentration ...

Deep-sea mining targets mineral deposits on the ocean floor, typically at depths of 3,000–6,000 meters. Most attention focuses on polymetallic nodules—potato-sized rocks lying on abyssal plains—and on ...