Threats

As technology evolves, and humans have the capacity to exploit the ocean further, deeper, and more efficiently than ever before, understanding the interconnectedness of oceanic ecosystems, and the fragility of the oft-overlooked deep, is essential.

Threats like bottom-trawling, deep-sea mining, oil drilling, and ocean acidification are already impacting deep-sea corals and the other species who rely on them. These threats require our full attention and strategic collaboration to understand, address, and mitigate. Exploitation done without first exploration, scientific consensus, and thoughtful policymaking threatens to upend our global ecosystem and cause a ripple effect of damages we cannot even begin to fathom.

In this section, explore the current threats to deep-sea corals, and learn how certain countries and organisations are working hard to ensure protections are put in place for these delicate ecosystems.