Underwater robots could usher in a high-tech future for deep sea mining. Here's how.
And some believe it's worth mining the deep blue sea for these elements, while others warn it would destroy a crucial eco-system. Renee Grogan, the creator of Impossible Metals, a company studying sustainable underwater mining solutions, believes the company's robot prototype Eureka could be the solution. In a test run, CBS News watched as Eureka was lowered into the Canadian side of Lake Huron.
The high-tech process is designed to do as little damage as possible, and is like using tweezers instead of a bulldozer. Typical deep sea mining involves dredging the bottom of the ocean with giant robotic shovels. Douglas McCauley, an ocean scientist at University of California Santa Barbara, is one of hundreds of scientists who have spoken out against this type of deep sea mining, warning that it could crush marine life and stir up toxic plumes of sediment that could spread throughout the ocean, impacting fisheries that humans depend on. "We can't try to save the planet by breaking the planet in the process, right?" McCauley said.
"To do it tactically, with that kind of precision, is going to be hard or perhaps even impossible," he said.
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