Documentary 'How Deep Is Your Love' explores Pacific seabed before mining
New film follows scientists documenting deep-sea life in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a region threatened by industrial mining.
What to know
- New documentary 'How Deep Is Your Love' follows scientists documenting life in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a Pacific region threatened by industrial deep-sea mining.
- Less than 0.001% of the deep sea floor has been observed by humans; the film frames research as a race against time to identify species before mining destroys fragile ecosystems.
- Director Eleanor Mortimer crafted the film as philosophical exploration rather than activist documentary, aiming to foster emotional connection with the deep ocean.
- The film opens in select UK cinemas next month, featuring footage from 5,000 metres below the surface captured via underwater robot Isis.
“hours and hours counting the legs of a minuscule animal you can't even see with the naked eye”
Eleanor Mortimer, Director, describing taxonomists and biologists · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 21
Eleanor Mortimer Director of 'How Deep Is Your Love'Natural History Museum London research team Deep-sea researchers and scientists featured in the filmMuriel Rabone Science adviser and co-producer
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Film documents race to identify species before deep-sea mining
The documentary frames the research as urgent: scientists estimate only 0.001% of the deep sea floor has been observed by humans, and the Clarion Clipperton Zone is marked as a hotspot for industrial mining due to mineral-rich nodules on the seabed. It can take up to 14 years to name a newly identified species.
“Oh, I love this sea cucumber…”
— Research scientist (unnamed) -
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Guardian reports on 'How Deep Is Your Love' deep-sea documentary
The Guardian publishes a feature on a new documentary that follows scientists exploring the Clarion Clipperton Zone aboard a 12-day research voyage using an underwater robot called Isis to document life 5,000 metres below the surface.
“It's the challenge of the deep sea. Most people never go there, and yet it's a huge part of our planet we need to connect with. That was the motive behind the film. I want people to fall in love with the deep sea, I want people to connect with it.”
— Eleanor Mortimer
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first by The Guardian, 1d ago · also Guardian Environment