Japan’s $26bn discovery: A deep-sea jackpot with a deep-seated cost. In a discovery that’s got economists giddy and environmentalists reeling, Japan has found something very special deep under the Pacific Ocean. Scientists have uncovered a seabed covered with nodules near Minami-Tori-shima Island worth a staggering $26.29 billion. But while the find promises to turbocharge Japan’s economy for the next decade, critics warn it could sink marine biodiversity into uncharted waters of destruction. A buried fortune unearthed The seabed is 5,700 metres down, glistening with manganese nodules – millions of years in the making – packed with cobalt, nickel, copper, and...