The Environmental Law and Policy Clinic weighed in on the first-ever regulations proposed for mineral exploitation of the ocean floor in June, emphasizing the need to protect deep-sea biodiversity and ecosystem function.  Little is known about life in the deep sea, a region scientists have only recently begun to explore, but discoveries over the past few years by Duke scientists and others have provided glimpses of an astonishing range of biodiversity — including unique life forms thriving in super-heated thermal vent environments.