Dear Next president:

Did you know that minerals are richer in seabeds under the ocean than under land on earth? That’s because we have used all the minerals on land and moved on to seabeds.The valuable materials that are found under seabeds and are used are cobalt, copper, gold and much of other elements.The two reasons why this mining is hurting the ocean and one reason how we can slow down the mining is that the ISA is giving out too many permits for mining in the oceans. The life in the oceans is getting hurt or killed, and ISA needs to put in protected areas.

The first reason why this mining is hurting the oceans is that the ISA is giving out too many permits for mining in the ocean. 27 countries have rights to mine in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Also, the oceans on the Earth will have no more minerals and the biodiversity will be killed or hurt by the mining the companies are doing under the seabeds. China is leading all the countries with four permits. I suggest to cut down on the permits.

The second reason why ocean mining is hurting the oceans is that the biodiversity is either being hurt or that the biodiversity is being killed by the ocean mining. Biodiversity is being killed or hurt by the mining and the habitats of these animals are being destroyed by the seabed mining. Also, the people of this beautiful world can’t witness the beauty in the ocean if the companies are mining. Robots are going to be mining by getting the minerals and putting them up a tube to the ships. The people will be seeing man-made things, not natural things. Have you seen iRobot? It’s a movie about robots turning on people. That could be a possibility with these robots. I suggest that you use divers to get the minerals instead of robots because robots can malfunction and I think it’s too deep for robots to go. Also, the robots could forget some minerals, or just don’t go down there and seabed mine.

The one reason we can slow down seabed mining or protect the seabeds is to set up protective areas. If we don’t put in protective areas, the companies would mine everything and then there will be nothing left. The ISA has put in some protected areas and Douglas McCauley is an ecologist and a conservation biologist believes mankind is nearing a revolution in undersea exploration and industry, and he's worried about its effect. McCauley says "It looks uncomfortably similar to what we did to land in the 1700s and 1800s". He added that the beginning of industrialization on land was associated with a rise in animal extinctions. Lastly, biologists, scientists, and ISA don’t know everything about what’s under the seabeds in the oceans.

In conclusion, we need to have protected areas, ISA needs to stop giving out permits to companies and countries, and to use divers instead of robots to collect the minerals. Or, the companies and countries can not go down there and use other sources of fuel. Like solar power, wind power and hydroelectric power.

Thank you,

Asher