EditorialPolymetallic nodules collected by the Metals Company from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean, displayed in a ship in San Diego, Calif., on June 8, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa /The New York Times)
EditorialPolymetallic nodules collected by the Metals Company from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean, displayed in a ship in San Diego, Calif., on June 8, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa /The New York Times)
EditorialPolymetallic nodules collected by the Metals Company from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean, displayed in a ship in San Diego, Calif., on June 8, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa /The New York Times)
EditorialThe Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by the Metals Company, carries seabed samples from the remote Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, about 1,500 miles southwest of San Diego, on June 7, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times)