Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles

Victor L. Vescovo; Alan J. Jamieson; Patrick Lahey; Rob McCallum; Heather A. Stewart; Casey Machado

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104463

Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles

Victor L. Vescovo, Alan J. Jamieson, Patrick Lahey, Rob McCallum, Heather A. Stewart, Casey Machado

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Exploration vehicles can introduce vast quantities of single-use, plastic-coated tether that have been deliberately discarded as observed at the deepest site of all Earth's oceans. Manned submersible dives to Challenger Deep (10,925 m deep) in the Mariana Trench in 2019 and 2020 revealed hundreds of metres of yellow and white tether strewn across the seafloor. Due to its composition, these fibre-optic tethers will not only persist environmentally, but form a significant risk to equipment and life should unmanned and manned craft become entangled. As a result, the site of the iconic first descent to the deepest place on Earth by Piccard and Walsh in 1960 is unlikely to be safely explored again if this practise continues.

Original language	English
Article number	104463
Journal	Marine Policy
Volume	128
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104463
Publication status	Published - Jun 2021
Externally published	Yes

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10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104463

Cite this

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title = "Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles",

abstract = "Exploration vehicles can introduce vast quantities of single-use, plastic-coated tether that have been deliberately discarded as observed at the deepest site of all Earth's oceans. Manned submersible dives to Challenger Deep (10,925 m deep) in the Mariana Trench in 2019 and 2020 revealed hundreds of metres of yellow and white tether strewn across the seafloor. Due to its composition, these fibre-optic tethers will not only persist environmentally, but form a significant risk to equipment and life should unmanned and manned craft become entangled. As a result, the site of the iconic first descent to the deepest place on Earth by Piccard and Walsh in 1960 is unlikely to be safely explored again if this practise continues.",

keywords = "Contamination, Deep Ocean, Exploration, Hazards, Mariana Trench, Marine Debris, Marine litter, Plastic pollution, Policy",

author = "Vescovo, {Victor L.} and Jamieson, {Alan J.} and Patrick Lahey and Rob McCallum and Stewart, {Heather A.} and Casey Machado",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

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language = "English",

volume = "128",

journal = "Marine Policy",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth

T2 - A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles

AU - Vescovo, Victor L.

AU - Jamieson, Alan J.

AU - Lahey, Patrick

AU - McCallum, Rob

AU - Stewart, Heather A.

AU - Machado, Casey

PY - 2021/6

Y1 - 2021/6

N2 - Exploration vehicles can introduce vast quantities of single-use, plastic-coated tether that have been deliberately discarded as observed at the deepest site of all Earth's oceans. Manned submersible dives to Challenger Deep (10,925 m deep) in the Mariana Trench in 2019 and 2020 revealed hundreds of metres of yellow and white tether strewn across the seafloor. Due to its composition, these fibre-optic tethers will not only persist environmentally, but form a significant risk to equipment and life should unmanned and manned craft become entangled. As a result, the site of the iconic first descent to the deepest place on Earth by Piccard and Walsh in 1960 is unlikely to be safely explored again if this practise continues.

AB - Exploration vehicles can introduce vast quantities of single-use, plastic-coated tether that have been deliberately discarded as observed at the deepest site of all Earth's oceans. Manned submersible dives to Challenger Deep (10,925 m deep) in the Mariana Trench in 2019 and 2020 revealed hundreds of metres of yellow and white tether strewn across the seafloor. Due to its composition, these fibre-optic tethers will not only persist environmentally, but form a significant risk to equipment and life should unmanned and manned craft become entangled. As a result, the site of the iconic first descent to the deepest place on Earth by Piccard and Walsh in 1960 is unlikely to be safely explored again if this practise continues.

KW - Contamination

KW - Deep Ocean

KW - Exploration

KW - Hazards

KW - Mariana Trench

KW - Marine Debris

KW - Marine litter

KW - Plastic pollution

KW - Policy

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DO - 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104463

M3 - Article

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SN - 0308-597X

VL - 128

JO - Marine Policy

JF - Marine Policy

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ER -

Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles

Abstract

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