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The Guardian (Long Read) ·Future-gazing

Ping-pong Sponges, ‘black Smokers’ and Floating Somethings: the Secrets of the Deep Sea

by Jacob Mikanowski

Published 2026-06-09 04:00:44+00:00

What happens when the search for battery metals reaches a world that has never seen the sun?

0:00 / 26:17 · Narrator Gacrux

Context

Mining fleets are preparing to strip the ocean floor for battery metals. In this piece published on 9 June 2026, The Guardian maps the midnight world those machines are about to dig up—a lightless zone of glowing jellyfish and volcanic vents that might hold the origins of life on Earth. The essay holds its ground months later because it captures a rapidly closing window. Before the abyss becomes just another industrial site for copper and cobalt, it asks what exactly humanity is rushing to destroy in the dark.

Show notes

A survey of deep-sea biology and the commercial push to mine the ocean floor for battery metals. Draws on recent marine research and the history of underwater exploration to describe the extreme ecosystems that survive around thermal vents and mineral deposits. Details how international mining contracts now threaten these unmapped environments before scientists can fully study them.

Read on The Guardian (Long Read) →