Last March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association exploration vessel Okeanos made a remarkable discovery while surveying the deep sea floor off of Hawaii. In the pale bright light of a remotely operated underwater vehicle’s (ROV) floodlights, a purplish form appeared—an unknown species of octopus. The little gelatinous blob staring back at the camera became somewhat of an internet sensation and earned the endearing nickname “casper.”
Unfortunately, the deep sea environments where these beloved octopods live are going to be under serious pressure in the very near future. Casper and many other deep dwelling sea creatures make their livelihoods in undersea plains littered with metallic nodules of manganese, nickel, zinc, copper, gold and more—metals in high demand partly because of their use in electronic devices like smartphones. Mining companies have hungrily eyed these mineral rich regions for decades, but have never been able to reach them until now. With cost effective technology finally available to bring nodules up to the surface, organisms like the casper octopus, so long sheltered from human activity, are going to find themselves in danger.

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