I find this very fascinating. There’s the old saying about how we know more about our Solar System than we know about the depths of the ocean, and we are on the edge of a time where it’s rapidly becoming significantly easier to access both space and the ocean floor.
With talk about off-earth mining ramping up, it’s going to be interesting to see that potential economy come up against a new rush to mine the oceans.
There’s also a lot of technological cross-over - it’s all coming down to remote robotics and autonomous systems.
I wonder what international law implies about mining the ocean floor in international waters?