Today, we’re bringing you a wild story. It’s about a covert ocean adventure from back in the Cold War days that inadvertently set off a brand new industry. And it’s an industry that’s been in the news a lot lately: deep-sea mining. 

Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order to try to fast-track deep-sea mining, while many countries are calling for more research before any mining can proceed or an outright ban. The deep ocean is the least known place on Earth, and scientists say we are only beginning to understand the power of the deep.

And to tell the incredible backstory of how the industry that could forever change our ocean got its start, we are bringing you an episode from one of our favorite public radio podcasts: Outside/In from New Hampshire Public Radio. 

This episode was reported and produced by Daniel Ackerman.

Sea Change is a WWNO and WRKF production. Carlyle Calhoun is Sea Change's executive producer. Emily Jankowski is our sound designer, and our theme music is by Jon Batiste. We are part of the NPR Podcast Network and distributed by PRX. 

Sea Change is made possible with major support from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Sea Change is also supported by the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans. WWNO’s Coastal Desk is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, the Meraux Foundation, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.