A lot of deep sea creatures have very slow metabolisms. It is one of the many reasons sea dredging and mining should be held with such disdain: these are ecosystems which may take thousands of years to recover.

We don't even appreciate how long it takes a forest to recover, much less one with glass sponges that are thousands of years old.

> We don't even appreciate how long it takes a forest to recover

Don't forget about forests that are thousands of years old too, very contemporary serious long-term damage