Q&A With Diva Amon

The marine biologist working to protect our oceans from deep-sea mining

- JEFFREY KLUGER

THE OCEANS NEED MORE CARE THAN they ever have—and few people are taking on that job with more commitment than Diva Amon. A marine biologist at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Marc and Lynne Benioff are TIME’s owners and co-chairs), Amon has a special love for the deeper reaches of the ocean—below 200 m, where sunlight does not penetrate, pressures are up to 110 times that of sea level, and temperatures drop to 39°F. Despite those punishing conditions, all manner of life forms thrive there. One of the greatest potential dangers to that fragile ecosystem is deep-ocean mining—industrializing the untouched and unseen ocean floor to extract nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, gold, silver, and more. For now, the mining is not taking place—and Amon and her colleagues are advocating to keep it that way. Amon spoke to TIME in a wide-ranging conversation that has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why do countries and companies want to begin deep-sea mining?