Letter to the Editor: Star Trek, deep-sea mining and a lesson on humility

13 hours ago

2 min read

By JosephB. Arriola

One thing that ocean mining makes me think about is "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." In the movie, a mysterious alien probe comes to Earth and starts causing major environmental damage. The crew eventually figures out that the probe is trying to communicate with humpback whales.

The problem is that, in the future, humans have driven humpback whales to extinction. With no whales left to answer, Earth is in serious trouble. Captain Kirk and the crew end up traveling back in time to 1986 to bring two whales into the future and save the planet.

What I like about the movie is that its environmental message is pretty simple. Humans assumed whales weren't that important and wiped them out. It turns out they were far more important than anyone realized. The story is basically a reminder that we don't always understand the full role a species plays in the bigger picture.

That's what concerns me about ocean mining. The deep ocean is one of the least explored places on Earth. Scientists are still discovering new species and trying to understand how these ecosystems work. Yet there is growing interest in mining/harvesting the ocean floor for metals and minerals that can be used in batteries and other technologies.

The problem is that we don't really know what we might be damaging. There could be species living down there that play important roles in ocean ecosystems, and we may not discover how important they are until they're gone. Just because something looks insignificant doesn't mean it actually is. The whales in "Star Trek IV" are a good example of that idea. Nobody thought their disappearance would matter until it suddenly became a problem for the entire planet.

I'm not saying ocean mining/harvesting should never happen. We do need resources, especially if we're trying to move toward cleaner energy. But I think the movie highlights an important lesson: once a species or ecosystem is lost, there's no guarantee we can bring it back. In the real world, we don't have a starship that can travel through time and fix our mistakes.

The connection between "Star Trek IV" and ocean mining is really about humility.

The movie suggests that nature is full of relationships that we don't fully understand. Ocean mining/harvesting asks us to make major changes to an environment that is still largely a mystery.

Before we start disturbing the deep sea on a large scale, it seems worth asking whether we're confident we understand what we're risking. Otherwise, we might end up learning the value of something only after we've already destroyed it.

Joseph B.D. Arriola is a resident of Dededo and a senatorial candidate.

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