Main human uses of ocean areas and resources, impacts, and multiple scales of governance - Ocean Sustainability in the 21st Century - page 41

2.3.3 Potential threats from other uses: scientific research, biological prospecting,
mining, geo-engineering, and underwater cables
Underwater cables are thought to have no or minimal impact on the deep seabed, provided
thattheyaresitedtoavoidsensitivehabitats.However,theirinstallationandrepairmayhave
some impact on the benthos as they can be subject to damage both from natural causes such
as earthquakes and human causes such as deep water trawling (cf. www.suboptic.org/up-
loads/Economic%20Impact%20of%20Submarine%20Cable%20Disruptions.pdf ) . Installa-
tion requires ploughing to prepare the surface and jetting to bury the already installed cable,
resulting in a 5-8 cm wide disturbance to the seabed. Repair may entail lifting of the cable
and its reinstallation. Entanglements of whales in underwater cables have been reported in
the past, but have now ceased with the transition from telegraph to coaxial cabling, and, sub-
sequently, to fibre-optic systems (Carter et al ., 2009 ) .
There have only been very minor documented impacts from scientific research on eco-
systems and species in the global commons. Scientific research may entail physical disturb-
ance or disruption, or the introduction of light into an ecosystem that is naturally deprived.
Some evidence of disturbance caused by scientific research already exists. For example,
the use of floodlights on manned submersibles may have irretrievably damaged the eyes of
decapod shrimps that dominate the fauna at vents on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Herring et al .,
1999 ) . Waste from Antarctic research stations has had an impact on the surrounding envir-
onment, resulting in locally elevated pollution levels, including sewage, hydrocarbons, and
heavy metals, and resulting in changes to the structure of the adjacent benthic communities
(Lenihan, 1992 ; Conlan et al ., 2004 ).
Actual or potential impacts from biological prospecting are similar to those from sci-
entific research, given the close connection between the two activities. While there is little
documentation about environmental impacts of this activity, they are thought to be relatively
minimal at the early biodiscovery stages of collection, where the size of samples collected is
small. If a given species has shown biotechnology potential, repeated collection may require
larger quantities, raising the likelihood of environmental impact. However, synthetic manu-