A number of Pacific Island governments are backing exploration efforts by these companies. University of Hawaii Department of Oceanography professor Jeffrey Drazen is among scientists working in this area in the Pacific. While there is still much to be learnt he said the damage risks were high for such a slow-evolving ecosystem as the ocean floor. "If you drive a vehicle across a lawn and it's a little bit wet, you get tyre tracks on the lawn, and it's unsightly, and we don't like them. But they typically are gone in a few weeks or a month. If you drive a vehicle across the deep sea floor, those tyre marks are there for decades. Decades upon decades. They don't go away."