Episode 9: Saving seamounts, black smokers and the elusive… dark oxygen!

In this week's episode we explore something deep, dark, and surprisingly full of life. Discover some hope in the depths of one of the most mysterious parts of our oceans in this episode with The Center for Biological Diversity's David Derrick.    David is a lawyer whose career path diverged from a more staid legal practice into environmental protection when he moved to California and started to enjoy the outdoor ocean life.  Now he is working on protecting the ocean depths and her denizens from exploitation. Deep sea mining is hard, dangerous and expensive, but these challenges aren't preventing dozens of companies, and the US government, from trying to dredge the ocean floor for financial gain.  As the world looks down for more of the minerals and metals that are part of our transition away from the dirty and polluting oil business, we discover why it's critical that the bottom of Davy Jones' locker be left undisturbed.   So join us and find out how the deep sea’s protectors like David are squaring up against this little-known problem, why this is the perfect time for collective action, and how you can get involved and become a deep sea ocean champion yourself.   Get involved:   Everyone’s voice counts! Sign the Greenpeace petition tostop deep sea mining before it starts: https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/act/stop-deep-sea-mining/   Find out more about the the issues of deep sea mining at The Center for Biological Diversity’s dedicated deep sea mining page: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/deep-sea_mining/   Check out the The Center for Biological Diversity’s latest April 2026 press release, and support the organisation today at this link:  https://biologicaldiversity.org/support/   Learn more about WHY deep sea ocean mining is a false resource promise from Justin Alger At The School of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Melbourne in Australia writing in the journal Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44183-025-00127-4   The Wildlife Podcast is produced by Jeffrey Barbee and Laurel Neme.  It is directed and edited by Jeffrey Barbee.  Find out more on our websites: www.laurelneme.com and www.jeffreybarbee.com The podcast is supported by the US based nonprofit www.allianceearth.org   Our theme music was produced just for our show by the amazing Joey Morra, check him out on his website at: www.joeymorra.com