One of the world’s most disputed seafloor areas is located between Hawaii and Mexico, about 12,000 feet below the Pacific Ocean’s surface. There are no residents. Not many people have witnessed it. However, in the years to come, it might be the scene of a collision between two of the ocean’s most economically important industries; the science supporting this is already published. Three commercially significant Pacific tuna species—bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin—are being pushed eastward by climate change toward warming waters that just so happen to sit directly over the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a 4.5 million square kilometer area where the International…
Author: Natalie Dillon
Natalie Dillon
Natalie Dillon is a Senior Editor at indeep-project.org, where she writes about the ocean's most urgent stories — from deep sea ecosystems and marine biodiversity to the climate forces reshaping them. A passionate advocate for marine life conservation, Natalie works with an NGO dedicated to protecting the world's oceans, bringing both scientific rigor and genuine personal investment to everything she covers.
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Standing on the deck of a research ship in the middle of the Atlantic and truly realizing that the water below you drops for miles is a disorienting experience. In addition to being deep, the ocean floor in this region of the world is mostly unexplored. Compared to the seabed between the American coastline and the Azores, a larger portion of the moon’s surface has been mapped. It’s an odd fact to accept. Nevertheless, something appears to be changing following years of inadequate funding and sluggish bureaucratic momentum. The region’s approach to deep-sea research has changed as a result of…