Sirius is a robot built at the University of Sydney that can do deep sea exploration. It recently surveyed cuttlefish in the Tasman Sea.
Then there’s the Deep Flight Super Falcon, built by a Californian inventor.
That all sounds very worthy and fun, but the real opportunities for deep sea exploration are in mining. With the major oil extraction operations reaching peak capacity, new sources of oil will be needed – although with the low price of oil per barrel, there’s not currently much incentive for serious investment in exploration. The locals aren’t always happy about it either, especially if they consist of fishing communities.
Finally, all deep sea mining in international waters is regulated by the International Seabed Authority, created under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This organisation tends to be anti-mining, having granted only 8 licenses for exploration and none for mining.
The ocean is one of the the last frontiers of unexplored Earthly terrain. It is full of untapped riches that can be harnessed for the betterment of humanity.
Naturally, we don’t want to pollute and destroy the oceans or deprive fishing industries of their source of revenue. Locating and extracting the sea’s bounty without destroying it or what it already gives us is a challenge that lies ahead.