On 1 November 2025, the global community observed the first International Day of the Deep Seabed, declared by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to raise awareness about the largely unexplored ocean floor beyond national jurisdictions. The observance, proposed by countries including Fiji, Jamaica, Malta, and Singapore, aims to promote sustainable management of seabed resources and protect fragile deep‑sea ecosystems. This initiative comes amid growing global interest in the deep seabed for its mineral wealth, particularly metals critical for renewable energy and high-tech industries.
Alongside the new observance, ISA highlighted scientific advances under its “One Thousand Reasons” campaign, funding six new projects to study and catalogue deep-sea species across multiple Member States. Scientists warn, however, that large-scale deep-sea mining — targeting polymetallic nodules, sulphides, and crusts — poses serious environmental risks, including habitat destruction, toxic sediment release, and disruption of ocean carbon cycles. Conservationists and marine experts are calling for a moratorium on commercial extraction until robust governance, ecological baseline data, and monitoring frameworks are established, ensuring that deep-sea ecosystems, which evolved over millions of years, are not irreversibly damaged. More