In order to truly heal our ailing planet, there must be a consciousness shift; and that shift begins in the minds and hearts of each one of us.

  • The technology sector has now turned to the oceans.
  • Profit, war, and a so-called “green energy future” are the main drivers behind the new blue economy and the emergent Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT).
  • Critical for all this IoUT technology are Rare Earth Minerals (REM) found in abundance at the bottom of the ocean.
  • Dubbed “Smart Ocean”, the IoUT will enable underwater warfare, deep-sea mining, more drilling for oil and global trade, and, so the hype goes, a “renewable energy future”.
  • Most underwater wireless communications rely on sonar which for decades has been known to harm whales and other marine animals who communicate by means of sonar.
  • Whales help mitigate excess carbon in the environment and play an essential role in the planet’s ecosystem.
  • An “all-things-wirelessly-connected world” requires huge quantities of rare earth minerals (REM) – aka, rare earth elements (REE), or rare earth metals.
  • Of particular interest are poly-metallic nodules which contain high levels of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and copper, as well as smaller amounts of lithium and molybdenum.
  • Scientists warn that trawling the ocean floor for rare earths could potentially destroy underwater eco-systems and decimate entire species of marine animals.
  • Green-washing and ethics-washing propose to use wind, solar, digital technology, and AI to transition from reliance on fossil fuels to a so-called renewable energy future. But resource acquisition, manufacturing, and disposal, coupled with an economy that prioritizes perpetual growth will only serve to cause further environmental devastation.

The technology revolution has now expanded to the ocean in the form of the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT), aka Smart Ocean. Plans are underway for the ocean to become an integral part of a worldwide network of “smart” interconnected infrastructure and objects that will complement and be integrated into 4G/5G cell towers on land and satellites in space. Money is being poured into research and development of new applications and infrastructure to enable seamless wireless connectivity throughout the ocean, Earth, and heavens.

Commercial interests and the armed forces view an internet-connected ocean as essential for their operations, and in their haste to build the infrastructure, impacts on marine life are not being considered. In addition to the noise, pollution, and debris from an ocean bustling with anthropogenic activities, the IoUTs will rely primarily on sonar for communication and data transmissions. The IoUTs will consist of underwater sensors that communicate with one another and with relay stations on the surface of the water. These stations will in turn communicate with satellites and/or ground-based 4G/5G infrastructure on land.

The “smart ocean” will include autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), robots, submarines (both with and without nuclear arms), torpedoes, bombs and anti-torpedo defense systems.

The IoUT will also play an integral role in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) arms race currently playing out in the US, China as well as other nations.

This vast ocean-based network of human-machine collaboration and algorithmic operations and permutations in the sea will be integrated into other branches of the military forming one coordinated AI web of destruction.  

The IoUT will also be used by the private sector for its purposes: mining for minerals on the ocean floor, seismic drilling, monitoring oil and gas pipelines and fiber cables, global trade, surveying shipwrecks, and data gathering.

The IoUT will operate primarily through sonar waves which are well suited for underwater propagation. Optical communications are being implemented for shorter more data intensive communications.

Due to the unique ability of sound to travel underwater, marine animals have evolved to rely on sound to navigate, communicate, find mates, forage, avoid predators, and defend territories. See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_mammals_and_sonar

In much the same way extremely bright beams of light shining directly into our eyes would cause much distress and hamper our vision, so too sonar waves and anthropogenic noise interfere with whales and other marine mammals’ ability to hear and tend to their needs. High intensity sonar, around 240 decibels, used by the US navy, causes deafness, bleeding in the brain, stranding, and death in whales. Disoriented from the unrelenting sound that can permeate the ocean for hundreds of miles (and in the case of low frequency sonar, thousands of miles), in a desperate effort to escape the sound, whales fling themselves onto the shore and die.

“Nature has had millions of years to perfect her whale-based carbon sink technology. All we need to do is let the whales live.” 

Nature’s Solution to Climate Change Dec. 2019

Whales play a key role in the exquisitely designed eco system that supports all life. Recently, scientists discovered that excrement from whales, known as fecal plumes, create the ideal nutrients and conditions for phytoplankton. These microscopic creatures produce 50-85% of the oxygen on Earth and serve as the “lungs” of the planet.

Both phytoplankton and whales help sequester large quantities of carbon, each in their own way. During their lifetime, whales absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Upon death, they fall to the bottom of the ocean and the carbon gets buried in the soil where it will remain for centuries. Due to a whale’s size and lifespan, a single whale can absorb large amounts of carbon. According to Nature’s Solution to Climate Change, a great whale sequesters on the average, 33 tons of CO2, while a tree absorbs roughly 40 pounds yearly. Phytoplankton sequester carbon as well through photosynthesis.

“The military base is being replaced by what has been called a ‘high speed, kill web.’ It uses information as a primary weapon of war. It will enable Empire to rain down terror on any spot of the earth: a swarm of drones, hypersonic missiles, submarine torpedoes, bombers; and all with the ease of calling an Uber.”

Koohan Paik-Mander U.S. Militarism, Space Tech, and the Climate Crisis at COP26 People’s Summit

“Underwater threats are rapidly growing in the world’s seas, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific. Renewed activity by the Chinese, Russian or American navies, rising naval defence budgets, the construction of submarines of all sizes (mini-submarines, coastal, conventional or nuclear-powered submarines) to create or expand existing fleets … the consequence being hundreds of submarines potentially navigating through international waters, creating the need for nations to be on the alert to safeguard their sovereignty and interests. And underwater weapons are a key element of their naval strategies.“

Naval Group

Do we really need more oil and minerals to fuel more war? Are more lethal weapons, data gleaned from connecting everything to the internet, extraction of “riches” buried deep within the ocean worth the suffering and possible extinction of whales and perhaps myriad other marine life forms so necessary to our eco-system? Is it wise to continue the race to digitalize our world as we unconsciously escort ourselves and all life toward possible techno-ecocide?

It may be that violence and competition have driven human activity for many centuries. But with the addition of technology and AI, the magnitude of harm this mindset engenders now threatens all living beings on the planet.

Earth can no longer sustain our violent, competitive, extractive way of life. Innovations that lessen the need for warring over finite reserves from Earth and that enable improvements in recycling may help to a degree. But what is most needed is a shift of consciousness and culture if we are to survive. Perhaps it is time we pivot from an ocean of technology to an ocean of consciousness focused on embracing our interdependence with one another and all living beings in this intricate and awe-filled sacred Web of Life.